Dark Age
by Mage of Hope
Summary: REWRITTEN! 11 years have passed since Rieze Maxia and Olympios forged a bridge to both worlds, but one day, an unknown force of Dark Spirits called Dark Rouges appeared to both worlds,soon causing a new age called Dark Age. 7 years later, a group of 9 kids will travel back to the past, change events, and solve the mystery of the Dark Age! Jude x Milla, Leia x Alvin! OCs included!
1. OCs!

**Hey guys! This isn't exactly a chapter, but I'm redoing my whole OCs list from the start a little! I made some errors, so that's why. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia or any references, just the OCs.**

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**OC: Phi Matthews. (Real name/Discarded: Sophia Mathis)**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 12**

**Species: Half-human, half-spirit. Half-Olympian, half-Rieze Maxia.**

**Parents: Jude Mathis and Milla Maxwell**

**Appearance: A petite young girl that's a little taller than Elize, but still shorter than the others, making her have the appearance of a preteen. She has medium long black hair that's down to her neck and tied in a low ponytail, amber-colored eyes, a dark blue martial artes uniform along with a dark obi sash tied around her waist, long black arm bracers, light gloves, and Chinese shoes with long white socks.**

**Personality: Phi is rather cold-hearted, methodical, a little curt, and mostly calm, but tend to be short-tempered sometimes. She's also a hard worker and will do anything to accomplish her goals, depending. Despite that, she has a kind heart and tends to be honest unless she has to lie for a reason. She doesn't hesitate to kill her enemies, and easily hides her emotions. She's a little bit of a tsundere and dislikes it when someone points out her flatchest.**

**Weapons: Hand-to-hand combat and a katana.**

**Fighting style: She mostly fights hand-to-hand combat since she has great agility in her attacks. Out of all the future kids, she is the fastest since her Lilium Orb contains Agility. She is a good katana wielder, but not a complete master of it. She's also good at casting dangerous spirit artes, but she doesn't usually cast artes since she is one of the slowest to cast them. She has a very high amount of mana since she is half-spirit, but mostly uses them for attacks and not really spirit artes.**

**Element: Thunder**

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**OC: Florian**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 10**

**Species: Half-human, half-spirit. Full Rieze Maxia. **

**Parents: Gaius and Muzet.**

**Personality: He's a sweet, cheerful, and kind-hearted boy, like his mother. He cares deeply for others and wishes for the happiness of his people when he becomes the next king. Even when he's playful, he's well-behaved and works hard.**

**Appearance: Dark hair with greenish-yellowish eyes, wears some light green Chinese martial artes clothing and white fingerless gloves.**

**Weapons: Twin daggers**

**Fighting style: He may be quick, but not as quick as Phi. He is a master of daggers, even throwing daggers, and has an extremely high skill in casting artes thanks to his half-spirit species and to the Great Four, allowing him to cast much faster than almost anyone, and having a higher amount of mana. He can also control and summon the Four Great Spirit by will, and his Lilium Orb is Intelligence, which enhances his spirit casting ability dramatically.**

**Element: Wind**

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**OC: Alicia (Fake name: Sakuya Matthews)**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 11**

**Species: Full human, full Rieze Maxia**

**Personality: A bit troublesome due to act without thinking, curious, more spirited than Phi, and a lot cheerful. She's more like a sister to Phi, always caring like a mother, and loves painting, cooking, and other girly things. She tends to have a habit of picking up strange items and getting lost.**

**Appearance: Black hair tied in a ponytail, black eyes, and a butterfly pin on her head. Wears a long jean dress with a light silver breastplate on her chest, a black skirt, black stockings, black stockings, black fingerless gloves, small boots, and a belt around her waist. **

**Weapons: Guns, and fauchard.**

**Fighting style: A very good sharpshooter and can cast a lot of spirit artes, but the fastest ones are offensive artes, making her a good long-distance user. Her Lilium Orb is Stamina. When she's in close combat, she's not completely skilled with a fauchard, but she is still plenty dangerous with one. **

**Element: Ice**

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**OC: Recon Svent (Fake name: Ricky Oswell)**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 14**

**Species: Full human, half Olympian, half Rieze Maxia**

**Parents: Alvin Svent and Leia Rolando.**

**Personality: Cocky, sociable, easygoing, and a bit laid-back. Cares deeply for his friends, and often flirts with girls in a kinda good way. **

**Appearance: Spiky light brown hair, dark brown eyes, wears a light overcoat, dark brown gloves, a blue shirt, jeans, and the same black scarf Alvin once wore, which was given to him in the future.**

**Weapons: Gun Sword**

**Fighting style: The gun sword is a new type of weapon in the future, and very hard to built and wield. In far range, there's a secret trigger at the hilt that shoots out bullets, but still needs to be reloaded. Recon is especially skilled in the gun scythe, strong for both close range and far range. He has the highest strength stats, but very low for speed and rarely casts spirit artes. His Lilium Orb is Strength.**

**Element: Fire**

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**OC: Stella (Fake name: Tia Marshall)**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 13**

**Species: Human, full Rieze Maxia**

**Parents: Driselle and some man.**

**Personality: Kind-hearted, gentle, compassionate, but acts like a mother to her friends. She is also quite feminine and likes to chat with girls.**

**Appearance: Long blond hair tied in a braid, sea-blue eyes, wears a light blue coat with a white diamond design, a white skirt, and white laced boots.**

**Weapon: Rapier and shield.**

**Fighting style: She has the highest magic defence out of everyone, as her Lilium Orb is Mind. Also, she is skilled with spirits artes and wielding a rapier, as being taught by Rowen, who was a master of it. **

**Element: Water**

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**OC: Jiao**

**Gender: Male**

**Parents: Elize Lutus and some man.**

**Species: Human, half Rieze Maxia, half Olympian.**

**Personality: Soft-spoken, shy, polite, and quiet. He doesn't have much confidence in himself, but Jebo stands up for him, due to the fact that they are first best friends. Jiao is sometimes clumsy, and has poor luck, but still helpful to others.**

**Appearance: Blond hair, green eyes, wears a white dress shirt, a green vest, a red tie, gray knee-length pants, a pair of boots, and a clockwatch around his neck.**

**Weapon: Staff**

**Fighting Style; He is most skilled and fastest at healing artes and dark spirit magic. He mainly focues on healing magic because he's the fastest. He's the best healer in the party, and his Lilium Orb is Intelligence.**

**Element: Darkness**

**OC: Jebo**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: Unknown**

**Parents: None**

**Species: ?**

**Personality: Very talkactive and more outgoing. He's the definition of the 'guy who can't shut up for two seconds.' He speaks his mind, is honest, insult enemies, and tends to be quite rude. He is closer to Jiao and very good best friends to him, always standing up for him.**

**Appearance: A lot like Teepo, only dark blue and green though. In the future, there is a few rare toys like him and Teepo, and not boosters. There was a special mechanism that allows them free will to talk and act their own decisions.**

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**OC: Aylen (Fake name: Leo Klim)**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 14**

**Parents: Isla and Yurgen**

**Personality: Level-headed, mature, but sometimes short-tempered. He shows great respect for the elderly and carefully thinks about his actions. He has the ability to talk to animals and monsters, but not Dark Spirits. He also has great pride in his clan.**

**Appearance: Dark hair with violet-colored eyes and wears tradition Auj Oule clothing.**

**Weapon: Spear and throwing daggers.**

**Fighting style: He is the second greatest offensive user, and quite skilled in hunting. He lacks the power to cast spirit artes, stating they will take too long, and rely on physical artes. His Lilium Orb is Strength.**

**Element: Life**

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**OC: Evan (Fake name: Dio Field)**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 14**

**Parents: Ivar and some woman**

**Species: Human, full Rieze Maxia.**

**Personality: Short-tempered, persistent, but still caring towards his friends and family. He will do a lot of reckless acts, which will lead to scolding later. He also seems to be annoyed at his dad, warning the others about him, but still caring for him. He also has the ability to talk to animals, but unable to negotiate with Dark Spirits. He's very good at making technology or fixing things like that.**

**Appearance: Dark skin, short silver hair, red martial artes clothing, and fur cotted boots.**

**Weapons: Claws.**

**Fighting style: He's the second fastest member in the team, but has low defence. His Lilium Orb is Agility.**

**Element: Earth**

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**OC: Elle Mel Kresnik**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 15**

**Parents: Ludger Will Kresnik and some woman.**

**Species: Human, full Olympian.**

**Personality: Outgoing, upbeat, friendly, and cheerful. She is the most scariest and oldest person in the team, making all boys fear her because of her tomboyish personality. She's more of a cat person since she once owned a cat named Lulu.**

**Appearance: Light brown hair in long pigtails, blue eyes, wears a blue dress shirt with a red tie, black shorts, and black combat boots.**

**Weapons: Short dual swords and throwing knives.**

**Fighting Style: She fights sharply using both dual swords and her throwing knives, but she doesn't have the ability to cast spirit artes due to her lacking a mana lobe. Her Lilium Orb is Mind, giving her a good magic defense.**

**Element: Light **

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**So that's basically it. In the next chapters, not only will I do skits, but I'll also do battle quotes as well. Well, next chapter continues the saga!**


	2. Prologue

**Hey there, everyone! This story takes place 18 years after the sequel of Tales of Xillia.**

**It's not exactly related to Tales of Xillia 2, and there are no armored shells that Ludger uses in battles in this future. However, there are a lot of new creations in the future, and Jude and Milla's adventures are famous throughout the world. Elle still exists, of course, but there are a LOT of changes in this story. With that said, we'll do the disclaimer and get it over with!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

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_11 years after the gateway to Rieze Maxia and Olympios have opened, on January 1, dark beings much stronger than dark spirit magic, are dark spirits called Dark Rogues. No one knows what they are, or where they came from, but they lay waste to both worlds in a matter of weeks. Not willing to die, the nations created an alliance together to make new defensive walls and counteract whatever chance they had._

_During the 11 years, after King Nachtigal has deceased, a new king was elected, a man named Oscar who had a strong sense of justice, and a big man with a big heart. At first, King Gaius of Auj Oule didn't easily trust this man, but after a few years of Oscar doing good deeds and helping Rashugal back to normal, both are on good terms, and Rashugal and Auj Oule were no longer enemies. Even when the Dark Rogues were invading the worlds, both helped their countries as much as they could._

_Mankind put up a honorable fight, even now, but the world is slowly ending towards the path of destruction. The Dark Rogues aren't the only things ending the world, but the people and environment themselves. Ever since the Dark Rogues appeared, some people have been blaming the spirits, even Maxwell, because the Dark Rogues were dark spirits. Heck, even some of them used the illegal spyrix weapons to kill the Dark Rogues with ease. Those people were either executed or arrested, but that still didn't change the fact that the once former group, Exodus, has returned._

_As more and more people die, the environment dies as well. The sea is mostly tainted with human bodies and blood, withering grass everywhere, rats and cockroaches feeding on dead bodies in the wild, and it rarely rains anywhere. The people have become violent and scared, and demand shelter, but both worlds can't keep this up. There's so few water and food, that many people die from starvation as well. This age of terror and destruction became known as the Dark Age._

_However, mankind has developed new kinds of weapons, including the new famous spyrite weapons Jude Mathis invented called Grimoire Fossils. Grimoire Fossils are small gem-like fossils in different sizes, colors, and shapes implanted in objects such as rings, watches, earrings, any accessories, 're really small spirit fossils, only enhanced. In order to use them, you must place mana or your own willpower into the fossils to create the spyrites. Perhaps an explanation on how to use such powerful devices is in order._

_There are a total of three forms of spyrites when using these Grimoire Fossils. The first is the normal process of summoning a plain, cute, defencless spyrite with so little mana, making many people use them. Second form is when you insert more mana or willpower, then the spyrite gets stronger, and ready for battle anytime. Third and final form is when you add a lot of mana or willpower into the spyrite, making it bigger and stronger._

_The usage of Grimoire Fossils has a time limit, depending. When using the Grimoire Fossil, the fossil will glow brightly, and when it begins to fade, that means its time is almost up. Pouring more mana or willpower into it will not only extend the time, but make the spyrite stronger as well. Grimoire Fossils are hard to create, so only a few hundred were created and chosen. Spyrites will obey their owners, always, and if their master bonds with them, they can have a will of their own and show affection._

_Spyrites can't physically die, but they can temporarily be destroyed until they're recreated using the mana or willpower of the Grimoire Fossil. Spyrites can absorb their own element, like a fire spyrite absorbing flames of a fire to gain power. The appearance, abilities, type of animal, and element of a spyrite depend on a person. For example, say that a hot-headed person summoned a spyrite, and that spyrite was a hot-headed fire dog spirit like his master. A quiet and shy person could summon a spyrite, and that spyrite could be a shy, water-type mouse spirit. This is due to the person's spirit and personality. If they lose or somehow destroy their Grimoire Fossils, and they get another one, their spyrite will still be the same. It also doesn't matter what the spyrite's gender is._

_A few months after the Dark Rogues appeared, Exodus had one goal: How to get rid of Dark Rogues. They finally decided to spy a lot of children who had a lot of potential and mana in them, before invading their towns or homes to kidnap them and take them to several secret laboratories around the world. Their plan was to reconstruct a huge secret weapon later called P.H.E.O.N.I.X. (Predestination Honorable Eradication Obliteration of Netherworld Insects Xterminator), gather up all of the children's mana one by one, and fire the cannon towards the Dark Rogues._

_One year of the Dark Rogues, in November, they put their plan into action. Although the plan succeeded in killing most of the Dark Rogues, it also wiped out billions-no, most of the world with it, along with the entire Exodus members. Some children who survived the experimentations were rescued, but most of the kidnapped children died through abuse or because they weren't following orders._

_The heroes that helped the reconnection of Olmpios and Rieze Maxia are all dead, save for two. Jude Mathis, Milla Maxwell, Leia Rolando, Alvin, Elize Lutus, Rowen Illbert, and even Ludger Kresnik are dead. The only heroes alive are Gaius and Muzet, who are struggling to defeat the Dark Rogues and figure out their origin, while the old Maxwell before Milla, took over his old position and doing his best as well._

_Now, 7 more years has passed, and the Dark Age is still happening in the world, but there are survivors. 9 heroes will one day, rise up, and save the world. How? This is how... _

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"Lady Phi! Lady Phi! Prince Florian!" cried out a soldier of Kanbalar, rushing towards a young looking girl about 12 years old, and a boy much younger than her before kneeling on one knee and bowing his head. "I have urgent news!"

"What is it?" asked the girl named Phi calmly, turning to him. "Have King Gaius and Queen Muzet returned?"

"Yes! But both are very injured! Even so, they wish to speak with both of you right away!"

"Let's go, Phi!" cried the boy named Florian, grabbing her arm. Phi nodded before she and Florian ran to the infirmary, where lots of soldiers who went with Gaius and Muzet for a mission were laying in beds, being treated. Muzet, their cousin Alicia, and Gaius's sister, Karla, were using healing magic on Gaius, who had his chest covered in bloody bandages. The healing was slow, but seems to be working. Gaius seemed to be in a deep sleep, but seems to be winching in pain.

"Oh, good! You guys are here!" sighed Alicia in relief as Phi and Florian also started healing Gaius as well. "Uncle Gaius and Aunt Muzet told me that their previous battle was rough, and there was a large Dark Rogue that was getting in their way, so they had to retreat! It was horrible!"

"But, there are some good news," replied Muzet. "You remembered my old adventures about Ludger and the alternate worlds, correct?"

"Yeah, and?" asked Alicia.

"Well, I have found a way to return to the past in this world. It took almost all of my mana to make a rift and test it out, and the time limit was short, but I had enough time to check outside the time portal I created, and see the beauty of nature. This was way before the Dark Rogues appeared. If I trained hard enough, and we have enough preparations-"

"We can go back to the past and stop the Dark Rouges! Good job, mother!" cheered Florian, hugging Muzet.

"But, it will take time. If with enough training, I can provide a few minutes of the time portal opening, but it will take a while. We should keep this to ourselves, and the people we trust, alright? I shall tell your father, Florian, and we may be able to stand a chance against the Dark Rouges with the advanced technology we have now."

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_A few months later... _

It was a little chaotic the past few months, but everyone survived and were all meeting together in Elympios in the city of Triglyph to activate the time portal ritual in a safe place. Only nine people were chosen to travel back to the past, and six of them were Florian, Phi, and Alicia's friends. First, there was Recon, Alvin and Leia's son, Jiao, who was the son of Elize and who always kept a stuffed talking doll named Jebo, Stella, the daughter and the adoptive cousin of Jiao, whose mother was adopted by Driselle who adopted Elize as her new sister. Aylen, the son of Isla and Yurgen, Evan, son of Ivar, and finally, Elle Mel Kresnik, the daughter of Ludger.

In the past few months, there has been attacks of the Dark Rogues every now and then, but they weren't too serious. Meanwhile, everyone was training themselves so that they could become stronger and stronger to fight against the Dark Rogues, especially Muzet, who had the most important role in the time traveling operation.

Finally, the day came for when Muzet was able to open a large time portal without breaking a sweat. All of the friends, including King Oscar, were there to say their final goodbyes. They knew the risks of time traveling, and had to be careful about their decisions, or they wouldn't exist anymore.

As Muzet was preparing for the time traveling ritual, Alicia whispered to Phi, "Hey, Phi! This might be the good chance to reunite with Unlce Jude and Aunt Milla!"

Phi gave Alicia a cold-hearted glare. "I'm sorry Alicia, but Jude Mathis and Milla Maxwell aren't my parents, at least, anymore. They're dead, and never coming back, even if we travel to the past."

"But...Phi...don't you want to spend time with your family?" asked Alicia, with Florian agreeing with her.

"No. I refuse to acknowledge them as my 'family.' Sorry." Alicia and Florian nodded in agreement, knowing full well Phi's backstory, and the hatred she felt towards the Jude Mathis and Milla Maxwell in this world.

Recon wrapped his arm around Phi's shoulders. "Hey, Phi? You know, once this is all over, how about you and I uh...go out on a-"

"Save it, lover boy," told Phi coldly, making Recon cry animated tears of rejection. Thi wasn't the first time Recon's ever tried to flirt with Phi. In fact, he's flirted with other beautiful or cute girls.

Suddenly, screams filled the air as loud explosions were heard throughout the city. Everyone turned and saw Dark Rogues coming from a huge hole in the city's hard walls, attacking anyone in sight and slaughtering them.

"Dark Rouges?! They invaded this place?! But that's impossible! The walls are as hard as a mountain!" shouted King Oscar, unsheathing his heavy axe.

Then, a very large figure was shown towering over a tall building. Everyone thought it was a centipede, but they realized it wasn't, and it was about ten meters long, and his dark body was divided into numerous parts that was more of a human spine than an insect. Sharp legs made of bones could be seen protruding from every joint, at the end of the hideous skull, was two pairs of sharp eye sockets, and it had a row of full sharp teeth, and two massive arms the shape of scythes.

"Damn! The Dark Rouges had something this strong?!" cursed King Oscar. "Hurry up! You have to get to the portal! We'll hold the Dark Rogues off, even if it costs us our lives!"

"Way ahead of you!" shouted Recon before he, Aylen, and Evan jumped in the time portal first. Next, Elle, Stella, Jiao, and Alicia jumped in next, leaving only Florian and Phi left.

"Hurry, Florian! They're coming!" yelled Phi, glancing back her shoulder to see Florian standing by his parents' sides and fighting with the Four Great Spirits.

"I'll go after you!" cried Florian. "Go in, I'll go in after!"

Nodding, Phi ran in front of the portal, but before she could jump in, she heard the sounds of fighting and saw some soldiers, King Oscar, Gaius, and Muzet trying to fight off a horde of Dark Roguees. Then, Florian pushed her into the portal, shocking her as she turned and saw Florian with a sad smile on her face.

"NO!" Phi screamed as she was falling into whatever timeline she was going through.

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**Whew! I'm down for the Prologue of this chapter! For the time being, we'll focus on only one future OC, while the rest will come later in the future. Anyways, please give me any ideas for this story if you have any.**


	3. Infiltrating Fort Gandala

**Alright! The first chapter to the saga! Well, I think I mentioned this before, but we're only going to be focusing on one future character for the moment, and that'll be Phi, aka Sophia. So, I think you'll enjoy her personality, even if she is rude sometimes.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

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"Gah!" screamed Phi, falling out of the portal and facedown in the ground. "Damn it! Florian, you idiot!" Phi looked up, and her first glimpse of the past was rather an alarming one. She turned her head, and saw lots of cliffs, and figured she was in some sort of canyon. No Dark Rouges in sight or any dead, bleeding bodies being feasted by rats and crows. But where exactly was she?

_'Hmm...If this is the past, everything looks normal, then. No Dark Rouges. Sure, there are monsters here, but luckily, there aren't any Dark Spirits,' _thought Phi, thinking hard. Then, she turned around and saw a boar glaring at her from far away. Without warning, it started charging towards her.

Phi, wanting to test the past monsters, got out her katana and got into a stance. With a low yell, Phi jumped off the ground and in a blink of an eye, struck the boar right in the neck, giving it a pitiful scream before laying on the ground, dead. Satisfied, Phi sheathed her katana and walked while observing the area. The monsters here were way weaker than the ones she fought back in her future, so it shouldn't be difficult fighting the monsters in this timeline.

After a few minutes, Phi wondered what she should do. She doesn't have a map, but she remembers some parts about Jude and Milla's adventures, and wonders if she should change them, even a little. She doesn't think she's been to this kind of area back in the future, so she wonders where she's going. She thought, _' According to this piece of newspaper I found right now, I've been sent 18 years into the past, and I remember that this is the day when Alvin, Rowen, and Jude rescue Driselle, Milla, and Elize. If they're going to Fort Gandala, then that means this is Talys Highroad! I've never actually been here, though.' _

About a few hours later, for the first time, Phi saw Fort Gandala. Fort Gandala looked like a very large steel castle with steel fences all over, guarding the entrance. In addition, many soldiers were guarding the entrance as well, making this an impregnable defensive fort. In Phi's future, Fort Gandala has already been invaded and invested by Dark Rouges, making it no longer usable.

Phi saw the past Rowen, Jude, and Alvin behind the fences, hiding in plain sight. Hiding behind a huge rock outside of the fort, Phi turned her head and tried to get every word of the conversation the boys were saying while also hiding in a different area close to hers.

"So, this is Fort Gandala," Phi heard Jude say, astonished. "It looks like a steel castle."

"It was built to protect the trade routes," explained Rowen. "Ostensibly, anyway. But now, it would seem they have abandoned all pretense."

"So, how do we get in touch with your man on the inside?" asked Alvin, crossing his arms.

"Follow me," ordered Rowen before taking off to the back of the fort, causing both Jude and Alvin to follow him as well. Phi had no other choice but to follow them as well, while hiding. Phi saw the three of them at the back while she hid behind a fence. There were no guards, just a few metal boxes, and a large shaft at the top.

"Jude, I need you to climb into that shaft," commandered Rowen. "Tap on the wall once, twice, and twice again. If you hear three taps followed into one, that means everything is ready."

Jude nodded before using the metal boxes to climb up to the shaft. About a few moments later, he called, "I got the go sign."

"Good, let's proceed," suggested Rowen before he and Alvin started climbing up the shaft as well. After they started climbing through the shaft, Phi ran out of her hiding spot and started climbing the metal boxes before entering the shaft. As she started climbing through the shaft as quietly as possible, she heard the sounds of the three also climbing, so she laid low and tried to follow them as quietly as she could, following their sounds and where they were heading.

Finally, Phi saw the exit and saw Jude jump out of the exit. It seems he was the last to go, so she hid behind a small wall near the exit and started listening. She couldn't completely make clear of what was in the room, but she did see a Rashugal soldier, but he didn't seem to be attacking anyone.

"Please, hurry!" pleaded the Rashugal soldier. Was that soldier on Jude's side, temporarily? If that was the case, then that meant that some of the soldiers were supporting in Driselle's escape as well.

"Good work," thanked Rowen. "You have my gratitude and that of the late Lord Cline."

Phi frowned. She heard that Cline was a very good man, and was once the brother of Driselle. Unfortunely, he was killed in an assassination caused by King Nactigal. If he was still alive, then maybe he would have been the next new ruler of Rashugal.

"Everyone in the fortress has heard what happened in Sharilton," explained the Rashugal soldier. "It's hard for any of us to come grips with this."

"I'd offer my shoulder to cry on, but we're kinda in a hurry here," said Alvin impatiently. "What's going on? The short version."

"Of course! Lady Driselle and the others are locked in a cell on the second floor. But that's not the worst of it. All the prisoners have had their legs bounded with hex shackles."

Letting out a small 'tch,' Phi frowned once more. In her future, hex shackles were now considered illegal and were to be destroyed on sight, just like with Dark Spirits. She always hated hex shackles, due to the fact that they explode once someone enters into a red zone with them. She was so glad her deceased uncle made them illegal.

"If anyone wearing one of those walks through a hex zone, like that one over there, then it's designed to explode," explained the soldier. Phi peeked out of the shaft and saw some sort of red floating hexagon near the area near Jude and the others. Luckily, it doesn't affect those who doesn't have hex shackles.

"What?!" exclaimed Jude. "So even if we free them from their cells, they won't be able to escape until we can disable those shackles?"

"It would take far too long to track down the keyholder," said Rowen. "I suggest we seize the fortress' control room, instead. Then, we can deactive the whole security system."

"We've been unable to pin down the control room's location. I'm sorry," apologized the soldier.

"Don't worry. We'll figure the rest out. You've been a real help," assured Jude.

"Not to put the cart before the horse, but we should make sure we have a way out of here," said Alvin.

"Would you see to our escape plan?" requested Rowen.

"Yes, sir. We'll commandeer a carriage. Here, you'll need this key. It allows you to operate the elevators," offered the soldier, giving Rowen a key. Phi glanced out of the shaft and saw Rowen, Jude, and Alvin entering through a door, completely unharmed. Phi planned to follow them, but there were some soldiers guarding the area they were once in. She didn't want to attract attention to herself, so she had to come up with a plan to distract the soldiers for a few moments.

She saw a rock besides her, picked it up, and threw it at a wall, which bounced back and hit one of the soldiers protecting the hex soldier looked around, confused. While he was being confused, Phi started gathering as much fire spirits as she could to cast an arte that was enough to bring smoke to the area for a few moments.

"Oh, flickering flame burn...Fireball," muttered Phi, aiming for the ground. At once, she fired multiple fireballs, bringing up smoke and destruction in the area, but not harming any of the soldiers. The soldiers in that area went into a panic and started shouting, trying to find who fired the fireballs and brought up the smoke. Immediantly, Phi jumped down without making the slighest sound and opened the door Jude and the others went into before running in.

Once she was in the next area, she realized she was on top of a steel bridge, it seems. "Hey!" Phi turned and saw a female soldier charging towards her with weapons. Immediantly, Phi unsheathed her katana and cut through the woman before proceeding.

Finally, Phi saw what seemed to be an elevator and pressed the button next to it. Unfortunely, the doors didn't open, much to her frustration. For some reason, she couldn't recall anything else that was supposed to happen in the fort, so she made a personal goal to free the prisoners in the fort as she began exploring the place on the first floor.

* * *

_Later... _

"They have to have a key somewhere," muttered Jude as he, Alvin, and Rowen searched for a key or anything to get them closer to saving Milla and the other captives.

"Shh! I hear some people coming!" whispered Alvin, ducking down to hide behind some crates. As he and his friends also hid themselves behind the crates, they saw a few soldiers patrolling the area close to them, waiting for any intruders to come.

"So, what does King Nachtigal have to do around here?" wondered one of the soldiers to his comrade.

"Don't ask me. I don't know-ah!' Suddenly, that soldier got knocked out by a flying crate filled with materials. Alvin turned to Jude and Rowen and wondered if they did it, but they were just as surprised as him. Everyone turned their heads upwards and saw Phi, a little kid, standing on top of the railings.

"Kinda late for introductions, isn't it, boys?" spoke Phi before leaping down from her position. When she landed, she lifted her hands behind her head, and grabbed the soldier behind her, throwing him across the room and into a glass window, knocking him out, shocking everyone who saw that. She somersaulted a few times forward before stepping between two soldiers. Before one of them could attack, Phi pulled one of the soldier's arm wielding a lance and forced him to stab the other soldier before she quickly snapped his neck. Another soldier charged towards her and swung his sword, but Phi easily dodged, grabbed his arm, and threw him as hard as she could towards the ceiling. When a lightweighted soldier ran towards her with quick speed, she nimbly dodged the daggers thrown at her and thrusted her palms at his defenceless chest before knocking him out with a roundhouse kick to the face.

"Whoa, she's amazing," breathed Jude, astonished over the fight. Phi saw a man with two weapons rush towards her, so she ran until she climbed up the wall with her own two feet, then leaped off the wall and grabbed the man's neck with her own two legs, bringing him down to the ground and smashing his head at the ground as Phi laid on the ground before lifting herself up. The last soldier got out a small cannon gun and was about to fire it when Phi kicked it out of his hands and grabbed his arm before breaking it, the sounds of bones cracking to prove it. She used her leg to kick him in the chest and face once before throwing him towards a different set of crates, defeating the soldiers in that area.

"...What now?" asked Alvin, breaking the silence between him and his allies. They watched as Phi was searching throught the pockets of the unconscious or dead soldiers, obviously searching for something.

"How about we approach her? Slowly though?" suggested Rowen getting up. Jude and Alvin nodded before following Rowen and walking carefully towards the mysterious young girl.

Phi finally examined through the final soldier, standing up and kicking the guy with frustration. No key anywhere. Looks like she'll try to find another way to acquire a key to the cells. "Um...excuse me?" called out Jude gently from behind. Immediantly, Phi unsheathed her katana and pointed it at Jude, glaring coldly at him. When she realized who it was, she was about to lower her katana, but reminded herself to pretend she didn't know who they were, and kept her hand steady.

"Wait! We don't want to hurt you!" said Jude, holding his hands up in the air.

'Any sudden moves and you'll get your head sliced," warned Phi. "Dittos for the old man and that guy too. What do you want?"

"Who are you?" asked Rowen as politely as he could.

"..." Phi didn't say anything, but only waited for one of the three to say something.

"Um...hello? Come on, can't you nod or something?" asked Alvin. Once again, Phi didn't say antyhing. "Right um...let's try something else then. _Why _are you here?" Again, Phi didn't say a thing. "No response, little lady? You always this friendly or what?"

"...I'm plenty friendly," said Phi, finally speaking.

"What?"

"I said, I'm plenty friendly. That's what you asked before, isn't it?"

"Hey, looks like the little lady can talk after all," said Alvin. "So, let's try this again. Why are you here? Who are you? By which I mean, what's your name?"

"...My name's Phi," answered Phi, finally having no choice but to trust these three. "What's your story?"

"I'm Jude," introduced Jude. "And this is Alvin and Rowen. We're here to rescue some friends of ours. They were taken by the Rashugal soldiers."

" I see. The only reason I'm here is to...save a friend who was taken here," lied Phi. The only reason she lied was so that the three don't get suspicious of her, and she wanted to travel with them. "I know all about the hex shackles, and how they explode if you enter a hex zone with one. I was trying to find the keys to that, and even if I manage to find one, if I'm lucky, I'll free any other prisoner. So, what does that make us?"

"Accomplices, friends, allies, whatever you want to call it," replied Alvin. "Anyways, that makes us on the same side, right? We're going to free the other prisoners anyways, so this works out great."

"Sure. Alright," agreed Phi, sheathing her katana. "So, you know where we're heading?"

"We searched the entire floor, but there was not a key in sight," informed Rowen. "I presume the key must be in the upper floor, but we do not have access to the elevator."

"Oh, that's easy. We climb up there."

"And how do we do that? I mean, we saw you fight, and it seems you can jump high distances, but we're not like that," reminded Alvin. "Or do you suggest that we have someone climb into one's shoulders? And since you're the shortest and possibly lightest person, you can climb onto my shoulders."

"..." Phi stared at Alvin, a suspicious look on her face.

"What's with that look? I may not look like it, but I am good at handling the ladies, especially gently touching them and careful not to hurt them. Not like I'm hoping to get my face sandwiched between a girl's thighs or-"

"Ugh! I knew it! Sick bastard..." shouted Phi, mad.

"Hey! I was just kidding!" said Alvin, holding up his hands. Not only Phi, but Jude and Rowen seems to be glaring at Alvin as well, cornering him. "Look, you got any bright ideas that don't involve your thighs?"

"...Fine. On your knees," ordered Phi.

"Huh?"

"You're a little too tall for me to just jump on your shoulders. And I'm definitely not going to give you the pleasure of making me climb. So kneel."

"Um...okay? Alvin kneeled down and waited for Phi to do something. "Now what?"

"Heh, thanks. A little step-up was all I needed." Before Alvin could question further, he felt Phi's light weight on top of him for a second, and felt her use him as a launching pod. The boys saw her jump from Alvin's back high into the next level, grabbing onto the railing and stepping onto the ground of the higher level before reaching out her hand.

"What?! C-can you fly?!" screeched Jude.

"Obviously not. Now grab my hand. We don't have much time."

It took a while to finally find the control room, due to all of the guards and monsters, plus all of the confusing rooms in the fort. Eventually, though, they found a large door that seemed to lead to the control room, and opened it.

"Nachtigal!" cried out a young woman's voice. **CLASH! **Phi was the first person to see what was going on, and recognized the woman as Milla Maxwell, her soon-to-be mother. Like her 'father,' she hated her as well for reasons unknown except to herself.

Milla, whose sword was being held by the man named Nachtigal, declared, "I am going to put an end to your petty ambitions right now!"

However, Nachtigal only grasped Milla's sword tightly, as if nothing hurted him. "So this girl is really supposed to be the Lord of Spirits? Oh please, don't make me laugh!" Nachtigal easily kicked away from him, removing her from her own sword and away from him.

Instantly, Phi leaped off the railings of the staircase and jumped down to Milla's side, getting out her katana and defending her defenceless body. Jude, Alvin, and Rowen ran in and saw Milla on the ground. "Are you alright, Milla?!" cried out Jude.

Nachtigal turned to Jude for a brief moment before turning away from him. "With the Lance of Kresnik, know that I will bring Auj Oule to its knees."

Jude jumped down from the railings and into the ground safely before giving Nachtigal an angry glance. "That's why...you attacked Sharilton?! How could you keep commiting these atrocities?!"

"Silence, boy! These matters are not meant for children such as you!" shouted Nachtigal.

"How dare you!" shouted back Jude, more angry.

Milla started to regain consciousness and tried to stand up, bringing Nachtigal's attention. "You didn't really think you can stop me, did you?" questioned Nachtigal before throwing Milla's sword back at her.

Phi quickly held out her katana to defend against the flying sword and protect Milla, but then Rowen jumped into the air, threw one of his knives, and deflected the blade, making Milla's sword fall to the ground.

"Hmm?" Nachtigal looked up, and saw that Rowen was on top of a flying, mana-enchanced wind kite that he created himself. "Illbert, is that you?"

"Wait, what?" gasped Jude, turning to Rowen. "The Illbert from the history books?! Illbert the Conductor?!"

"I knew he was just more than an old butler," muttered Alvin.

"What business could one who cast aside both his army and his kingdom have here?" questioned the man next to Nachtigal, who saw Rowen flying towards Driselle and Elize. Phi didn't realize they were here until she saw Rowen approach them.

Rowen stepped off his mana kite and went towards Driselle and Elize. "Lady Driselle, I'm so pleased to see you safe. I was besides myself with worry."

"Hmph, you have fallen far, Illbert," scoffed Nachtigal, disappointed. "But your new role as a servant suits you."

"Your Highness, this way," suggested the man. "You need not trouble yourself with these criminals any longer."

While the man and Nachtigal were leaving the room, Milla regained complete consciousness and picked up her sword. "Get back here!" she yelled, charging past the guards and running after Nachtigal before the door automatically closed.

"Milla!" cried Jude. However, he stopped in his tracks when the guards were preparing to fight them. "Get out of our way! Palm Strike. Jude ran forward and thrusted his palm forward, making one of the shield-user back away a little.

The other soldier tried to strike Jude with his lance, but Alvin arrived with his sword at hand. "Dragon Swarm!" Using his sword, he slashed up the lancer user that was about to kill Jude.

Phi stood up and an to where Jude was before running behind the soldier he was fighting, pouncing behind him and wrapping her arms around his throat so tightly, the soldier began to choke. Jude began a variety of punches to the soldier's stomach, and finally, Alvin finished him off with a bullet to the heart.

After defeating the two guards, Jude ran towards the closed doors and banged his hands against them, as if he wanted to pry the doors open. "Come on, Teepo! Wake up!" cried Elize, trying to wake up her stuffed doll, Teepo.

"We need to get this door open! Milla need us!" shouted Jude, after smashing his fists into the door.

"Everyone, listen up!" ordered Rowen. "We are out of options. I must obliterate the arte runes that run this facility. Doing so will open the doors and deactive the hex shackles."

"But this fortress is huge," reminded Driselle. "Its control inscription must be incredibly complex. Can you really destroy it?"

"Not on my own. I'll open a channeling circle. Everyone, pour your mana into it." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Ready yourselves." As if conducting an orchestra with just his fingers instead of the conducting stick, Rowen concentrated on creating a channeling circle with just his fingers. Once it was opened, everyone concentrated on their mana, and in a few seconds, the doors and the hex shackles opened. That was due to Phi's large amount of mana. Since she was a half-spirit, she had large amounts of mana in her body, and trained her body to surpress the pain of having so much mana, so that's why it worked.

As soon as the doors and hex shackles were opened, Jude and Phi ran towards the door, with everyone else calling out for them. **BOOM! **Jude and Phi opened another door just in time to hear a loud explosion and smoke filling the air.

Jude and Phi saw Milla on the ground besides all the smoke and rushed to her side. "Milla!" shouted Jude, putting her in his lap. He saw her burned legs, and gasped. "No way...you can't be! Milla!"

_'Damn it!' _thought Phi, cletching her fists tightly. _ 'If I have been much faster, then I would have been able to prevent this! I even had a chance to easily kill Nachtigal! The only reason I didn't was because he might be needed for something important for the future! Damnit! I just hope letting him go was the right choice!' _

"You three alright?! What's wrong?!" shouted Alvin as he and the others rushed into the room.

"She's...Elize! You have to heal her quickly!" said Jude, panicking.

"Wah! She doesn't look so good! She's all busted up!" cried Teepo as Elize and Jude started healing Milla's legs. For once, Phi wished she was a healer as well. She knew that Milla would lose her ability to use her legs, and she tried to change it. If only she entered the same time Milla entered that room before the doors closed!

"Come on, Milla! Open your eyes!" begged Jude. "Why?! Why did this have to happen?!"

Alvin cletched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth in anger. "I wish I could say."

"There they are! The escapees! Get them!" yelled out a guard.

"Time to go. Nothing else we can do here," said Alvin. "Let's get her back to Sharilton."

"Stop them! Activate the golems!" cried out another guard. Suddenly, huge beings made of steel were activated and started towards the group. Rowen and Jude helped carry Milla inside a wagon waiting for them, and as soon as everyone was safe inside, Rowen tended to the horses and took off, with Alvin on top of the wagon and shooting at anyone who got in their way. Jude, Elize, and Driselle were frantically trying to heal Milla's legs, and suddenly, Phi felt sleepy all of a sudden before passing out.

* * *

_Skit: Four Heroes _

"I can't believe they got Milla," sighed Jude, worried.

"Are you so surprised? These are the same thugs who snared the Four Great Spirits," reminded Alvin.

"And I let the same thing happen again."

Rowen encouraged, "Let's get moving, gentlemen-"

"And lady," reminded Phi.

"Right. Let's get moving gentlemen, AND lady. We can't afford to suffer anymore losses!"

"Aren't you listening? These guys are way out of our league!" said Alvin.

"Don't be ridiculous! They've haven't a chance! Especially against a warrior of your considerable talent!" said Rowen.

"Hmm? Didn't take you to be the type for the sort that props up comrades with sweet talk," admitted Alvin, surprised.

"That depends on the comrade. Does it seem to be working?"

"A nice effort, but I only fall for flattery when it comes from the lips of a lady," said Alvin, amused.

"Then, would you like me to flatter you?" asked Phi. "I am a lady, after all."

"Hmm...sure why not? You might become a nice fine lady one day, so I might as well-"

"Then I will flatter you as long as you want after we rescue these friends of yours," said Phi.

"What! Why not?"

"Isn't it the gentlemen's job to wait patiently for the lady? If so, please be quiet. If you're lucky, you may even hear flattery from your female friends."

While Phi was walking away, Jude said, "She's got a point."

'Did...did she just ignore me?" wondered Alvin, stunned.

* * *

_Skit: Marriage Proposal?! _

"Phi, maybe you should check yourself in a mirror," suggested Jude, handing her a small mirror he had in his bag. Phi glanced at her reflection, and since she never had the right equipment to wash herself, she realized her hair was down and covered in spots of blood, and blood was trickling down her lip.

"So? Doesn't bother me."

"No way! If you want to be a beautiful lady when you grow older, you have to take responsiblity for you beauty, starting with those injuries!" protested Alvin.

"You do realize that if I didn't see you as an ally, I would have thought of you as a pedophile, right?" spoke Phi, annoyed. "And I don't care what I look like in the future, so long as I can still fight."

"Have you tried make-up? I may not be an expert on the topic, but I still know women use it," said Rowen.

"Make-up? What's that?" asked Phi, confused.

"Wait, you've never heard of that before?" asked Jude, surprised. "Anyways, you should at least wipe your face, and tie your hair. Here." Jude handed Phi a towel and a clean hairband. Phi easily tied her hair in a ponytail, and after she wiped her face, she handed it back to Jude.

"Oh! I've seen that kind of scene where a man touches a woman's hand!" said Alvin, slightly interested. "It's like asking for a marriage proposal!"

"What?!" shouted Phi and Jude. Jude protested, "I just met her today! H-how can I be that interested in her?"

"I don't know, you tell me. I mean, you have a crush on Milla, and Elize-er...never mind," teased Alvin with a grin on his face.

"Yes! To chase after the woman you want, you need to take drastic actions!" supported Rowen with fire in his eyes.

"You guys are sickos! Especially you, Jude!" shouted Phi angrily, stomping away.

"W-wait! Phi! Damnit, Alvin! And Rowen!"

* * *

_Skit: Resemblance_

"Come to think of it, Phi looks a lot like you, Jude," spoke up Rowen.

"Yeah, I was beginning to wonder when you were going to bring that up," agreed Phi. "Then again, a lot of people look alike, so it doesn't really matter."

"I'm not so sure," spoke Alvin. "You have the same eyes, the same hair color, and stuff like that. The only difference is the gender, the personality, and heck, if you grow that flatchest out, that's another difference."

"What. Did. You. Say?" asked Phi, each word threatning.

"Uh...the last part? I said that if you grow out that flatchest of yours-"

"Say that again," threatned Phi, using her mana to make a huge rock nearby float above her head. "I dare you, I double dare you, say that one more time!"

"It looks like you've struck a nerve, Alvin," said Rowen, grabbing Jude's sleeve. "We'll go on ahead and let you handle this one. Come on, Jude."

"Waaaaiit!" called Alvin. "You team killers!"

* * *

_Skit: Starvation contest _

"Man...I am so hungry!" complained Alvin, his stomach growling.

"Yeah, maybe we should stop and rest. Luckily, I packed some sandwiches," said Jude, getting a lunch box out of his bag.

"Are we really considering eating in a place where there are guards around, ready to kill any intruders? Besides, shouldn't we rescue Milla and the others?" questioned Phi as Rowen, Jude, and Alvin sat down to eat. The boys turned to each other before nodding as they ate their sandwiches. "Ugh, men."

When Phi turned her back on them, her stomach growled the loudest. Alvin chuckled and offered his sandwich. "Come on, you're as hungry as we are!"

"No way! Forget it." Phi's stomach growled for her, and she punched it in order for it to shut up. It didn't, and all she got was pain.

"How long since you ate?" asked Jude, curious.

Phi wondered if she should tell them or make something up, but decided it wouldn't make a difference. "...Four days."

"What?! Here, take my sandwich, you need it!" offered Jude, pulling her down to the ground and giving his sandwich to her. When Phi refused to eat and wanted to give it back to Jude, Jude just shoved a little of the sandwich into her mouth, surprising her and forcing her to eat.

"Whoa! Really getting serious, aren't we, Jude?" asked Alvin, amused.

"Oh, shut it, Alvin!" said Jude, realizing what he did and being embarrassed.

* * *

_Skit: Four Musketeers _

"Cheers to the greatest rescue team ever!" cheered Alvin.

"Yes! Exactly!" agreed Rowen.

"Idiots. We only defeated a couple of enemies, and you're already cheering when we haven't completed our objective? Pathetic," muttered Phi, annoyed.

"Hey, the least you could do is give a bit of a smile," pouted Alvin. "We're like the Three Musketeers!"

"Three? Don't you mean, four?" piped up Jude.

"Oh, you don't have a sword, so you don't count."

"Doesn't mean I can't be part of it! Besides, I've been doing most of the healing today, you know."

"Why do you even care about the whole 'Three Musketeers' thing? Shouldn't your main concern be that Milla girl and those other friends you told me about?" reminded Phi.

"O-oh, right," said Jude, embarrassed that he even cared.

"Cheer up, Jude! Maybe once you've got a sword, you can join the club," said Alvin.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm not joining the 'Two Musketeers club,'" spoke Phi.

"Honesty, what is with people not joining clubs?" wondered Rowen.

* * *

_Skit: Growth _

"Just out of curiousity, what do you want to be when you grow up, Phi?" asked Jude.

"Obviously a strong person, of course," said Phi.

"Er...let me try again. What kind of job do you want when you grow up?"

"Oh, well I'm not sure. I always thought about being an explorer to travel around the world and all. Didn't really think of a job position."

"So, you're going to be a mercenary like Alvin?" asked Jude.

"Maybe, but not a mercenary who kills for money, of course," said Phi.

"Then, is there a certain someone you want to marry?" questioned Alvin.

"Nope. No one in particular."

"Then what about someone who's kind, like a doctor-in training?"

Phi seemed to realize what Alvin was going on about. "Ugh! Sick! Alvin, I'm not marrying Jude!"

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Jude.

"For starters, there is a three year gap between us! And second, we just met!"

"But you could develop a relationship together. Besides, age doesn't matter," said Rowen.

"Rowen, of all people, you too? Ugh, men!"

* * *

_Skit: Home _

"By the way, aren't your parents worried about you? You are in a dangerous fortress where soldiers could attack you from left to right," said Jude to Phi.

"Don't have any parents. They're dead," replied Phi cooly.

"O-oh, I'm sorry."

"No worries."

"You sound like you don't care about them," said Alvin.

"Those are pitiful words. 'Hate' is more like it," said Phi coldly.

"May we ask what happened between you and your ah, deceased parents?" questioned Rowen.

"Sure. They're not the abusive sort of parents for starters. They were always kind and gentle, but they were too focused in their work, so I rarely see them. Then, they went and got themselves killed by some Dark Rog-er, monsters one day."

"You didn't even cry for them when they died?" asked Jude.

"To be honest, yeah, I didn't even shed a single tear. But I wasn't happy about their deaths either. I mean, I was sad and felt bad that they died, sure, but only for a few days."

"Damn, that's a lotta hate," said Alvin.

"Well, maybe I'm similar to you, Phi," said Jude. "You see, I don't get to spend a lot of time with my family, but I always see them everyday. My mom's nice, but my dad's strict."

"Uh, Jude? That sob story isn't making things better," spoke Alvin. "Ahem, anyways Phi, what about your home? Did you get adopted?"

"In a matter of speaking. I got adopted with my uncle and aunt, but they died a few months ago, so I was left to travel the world." Half of that was a lie, because Phi couldn't tell if Gaius and Muzet were still alive in the dark world they lived in, but she did get taken in by them.

"Why don't you live in Leronde? I'm sure someone can adopt you there," offered Jude.

"Ooh, so you can be closer with Phi?" teased Alvin.

"Sorry, but no," said Phi. "I planned to travel once this whole rescue mission is over. But thanks for the offer."

* * *

**I wasn't really expecting to write the chapter this long, so yeah. Anyways, please read and review and give me some ideas!**


	4. Confrontation!

**Alright, this chapter is where, Milla tries to get her feet back together, literally. I know that my OC, Phi, seems a bit like a Mary-Sue, but my other OCs are as strong as her. Maybe some of them are stronger than her. Anyways, I'll try not to let Phi be a Mary-Sue. So, here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Ugh..." The pain of a headache forced Phi to wake up. As she sat up, she looked around and saw she was in a room and she was sitting in a bed. She remembered exactly what happened. She had gone back into the past successfully, helped out Jude and his men infiltrate Fort Gandala, saved Milla and the girls, and helped them escape. All in one day.

Jumping off the bed, Phi checked her body. She still had some injuries and a throbbing headache, but they were nearly healed. She opened the door out of the room she was sleeping in and looked around to see a staircase leading down. As she was walking down, she heard some talking and listened as she saw Jude, Driselle, Rowen, Elise, Teepo, and a man that looked like a doctor in the living room.

"The second floor window is open," Phi heard Jude say. "That means Milla's awake!"

"Yeah..." said Driselle sadly as she looked down.

Jude noticed everyone was not pleased and seemed more depressed than usual. "What's wrong?"

The doctor stood up and explained, "There's something I should tell you. Milla's condition is...well, bad. She can't feel her legs anymore, or even move them."

_'This is the part where Milla loses her legs, temporarily, and she and Jude go to Leronde to cure Milla's legs,' _thought Phi, hiding behind a pillar. _'If that's the case, then I have to go with them!' _

"It can't be..." Without warning, Jude ran off upstairs to Milla's room, and nobody stopped him.

"Poor Jude...isn't there a way to cure Milla's legs?" wondered Elize as she looked down sadly.

"I'd bet on it," spoke Phi, walking out of the pillar she was hiding behind. Everyone quickly turned and gasped when they saw Phi, completely looking healthy.

"Phi! You're awake!" cried Driselle, happily.

"Are you alright? You shouldn't be getting up after two days. You may need some rest," suggested the doctor.

"It's alright. I'm fine. Wait, I was out for two days?"

"Indeed," said Rowen. "After we arrived back at the mansion, we took both you and Milla to medical tratment as fast as we could. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Oh, and I heard everything, so don't worry about explaining things to me," assured Phi. "By the way, where's Alvin?"

"He's gone. He went to another job," answered Rowen. "But anyways, you should get some more rest. But first, are you hungry?"

"Well, I guess I'll have something before getting some more rest," agreed Phi.

* * *

_The next morning... _

When Phi was fully dressed and awake, she saw Jude sleeping in one of the couches in the living room. She shook him lightly and called out, "Jude, are you awake? Come on, it's time to wake up."

When Jude was still sleeping, Phi sighed before sitting down in another chair. She pondered on as she watched his sleeping figure. Though, she hated him, he was not as she expected him to be, loyal, kind, and caring.

Sure, back in her future, her father, the real Jude Mathis, was kind to her, but he never did have time for her, and neither did her mother, Milla Maxwell. But, something happened that changed her for good. In this time, Jude looks younger, and Phi didn't know why, but she was happy for both him and Milla.

That was when Phi realized that she didn't hate him. No matter how much she mustered up all that hatred, she could never hate the Jude Mathis in this time. Sure she could in her future, if Jude or Milla were still alive, but this was a different Jude and Milla. Phi felt bad for hating both of them when they haven't done anything...yet. But if that 'yet' comes, she'll be ready.

Finally, Jude stirred and opened his eyes to see the ceiling. He turned his head to see Phi, and wondered, "Phi...?"

"Oh good, you're awake," said Phi, walking over to him. "Here, grab my hand. I'll help you get up."

Once Jude grabbed her hand, she helped sit him up. "When did you wake up?"

"Yesterday. I heard what happened to Milla." Jude looked away in shame, for he remembered what happened to Milla, and how she can't even feel or move her legs.

"I wish there was something I can do! I...this is all my fault," said Jude, looking down.

"...You say this is your fault?" questioned Phi. "Alright, let me ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them honestly. Jude, did you put the hex shackles on Milla's feet?"

'Well, no."

"Did you force her to enter a hex zone?"

"No."

"Did you kidnap her?"

"No."

"Two more questions. Did you cause something to make her lose the ability to walk?"

"Well, no."

"Finally, after answering all of these questions, do you honestly think all of this is your fault?"

"Well, when you put it in that way, I guess not."

"Exactly," said Phi, bending down to Jude's level. "Look, nobody's blaming you for anything. I hate those who blame others for things they didn't do. I'm one of the victims. I understand how you feel. But...I may know something that can cure Milla's legs."

"Really?! Please, tell me!" cried Jude, taking a hold of Phi's shoulders.

_'Okay, I have to say my words carefully,' _thought Phi. "Jude, calm down. A long time ago, I heard rumors of a doctor in Leronde that had cured a person's unmoved legs before."

"Oh! Why didn't I think it through?! Of course it's him!" shouted Jude, happily. "Thank you, Phi! Thank you!" He got up and ran upstairs, most likely to Milla's room. Phi followed quietly, and saw Jude close the door to Milla's room, so she leaned against the door and listened carefully.

"Is there something on your mind?" Phi heard Milla ask.

"It's just that...a long time ago, my father healed a patient who had lost the use of his legs," said Jude.

Milla must have been surprised. "Really?!"

"Yes, really. So I was thinking, maybe we could visit my hometown, Leronde."

"...What changed? You were so determined to hold me back yesterday."

"I was...I don't know why. I'm not sure what changed," admitted Jude.

"Heh, if you say so."

"I just know there's nothing I can do to stop you. Even if you can't walk, you'll just crawl away and get into trouble."

Milla chuckled. "You really are..."

"A do-gooder? Yeah, yeah," Jude also chuckled.

"Thank you. I'm in your hands."

"Right. We can reach Leronde by boat, so let's head to Sapstrath Seahaven."

Phi decided now would be a good time to intrude, so she knocked on the door before entering. "Good morning, Milla. I'm sorry I eavesdropped on both of you, but then again, I wouldn't want to ruin this perfect moment."

"W-what do you mean?" asked Jude, his face red.

Phi ignored that affection and said, "Anyways, if you're going to Sapstrath Seahaven, I'll be joining you two."

"Why? I appreciate the offer, but why?" asked Milla.

"Yeah. You already rescued Milla and the others, plus your friend, so why do you want to come with us? You have a family, right?" Jude also asked.

"Unfortunely, back before I escaped Fort Gandala, my friend was already dead due to the hex shackles I presume. And I'm an orphan," explained Phi. She thought about this long and hard last night about the excuse she was going to say to travel with Jude and the others. She lied about the friend part, but the part where she's an orphan wasn't a lie. "Besides, I want to make Nachtigal pay for hurting not only my friend, by all of those innocent people as well."

"Oh, I see...I'm so sorry," apologized Jude.

"No need to apologize. That wasn't your fault. Well, I'll be leaving the room. Call me once you're ready."

Once Phi left, Jude admitted, "For some strange reason, something's bugging me. Something in my guts are telling me, 'Protect her. Don't let her die.'"

"Then, maybe you should," suggested Milla. "Now, will you please help me up?"

"Oh, sure!"

Later, Jude, Milla, and Phi were ready to say goodbye to the others except for Alvin, who was missing. Milla was riding on a horse Driselle gave to her for easier transportation. "Driselle, you have my gratitude," said Milla.

"And you have my hopes for a full recovery," said Driselle.

"Please, take the utmost caution on your journey," warned Rowen. "I'm truly sorry we cannot accompany you."

Milla shook her head. "No need to apologize. You have much to keep you occupied here. Driselle's life is about to get very busy. She'll need your guidance."

"You're really leaving?" asked Elize, a bit sad.

"Yeah. Take care, okay?" comforted Jude. "You don't have to worry about being lonely anymore. Driselle and Rowen will keep you company."

"I know, but still..."

"Elize, if it makes you feel better, we can come visit you when Milla's legs are all cured," offered Phi.

"Really? Okay, we'll be waiting then!"

Phi turned and saw Jude looking sad. Phi figured that Jude was looking for Alvin, but he couldn't find him anywhere. "We should get moving. Everyone, you've been a great help. I am in your debt," thanked Milla.

"Time to hit the road. Thanks, all of you," said Jude before he, Milla, and Phi left the city.

While traveling to Sapstrath Seahaven, there were monsters in their way, but Jude and Phi easily took care of them while protecting Milla and the horse she was currently riding on. With Jude alone, it would have been difficult, but with Phi, it was simple. Too bad she went a bit too far and bashed the monster's brains in, saying it was something she always did to make sure the enemy was dead.

That night, the sky was cloudy, and thunder could be heard. It looks like it was going to rain. "It's about to pour down on us. Better call it a day," suggested Jude. When the trio found a safe spot under the trees to sleep for the night, Jude made a fireplace and Phi helped cooked dinner together.

"How did you become such an amazing cook?" asked Milla to Jude once dinner was done. "I can't even boil water without burning it."

"That's not true! Anyone can cook with practice!" encouraged Jude.

"Everyone has their own missions," reminded Milla.

"So my mission is to cook for Milla Maxwell?"

"Well, in my current state, I can't even do that. I can't cook dinner, or make the bed," explained Milla, looking down at her bandaged legs.

"Don't...don't worry. I'll do that stuff for you from now on," declared Jude, blushing.

Milla chuckled lightly. "Hey. Sit closer." Once Jude nervously did what she asked, Milla continued, "I want to thank you. Please, take this as a token of my appreciation." Milla got out a small necklace with a blue bead from her pocket and tied it around Jude's neck.

"Thanks." Phi could see Jude blushing, but made no comment about it.

* * *

The next morning...

The trio were still on their way towards Sapstrath Seahaven, when all of a suddenly, a boar came out of nowhere and crashed into the three of them, making Milla fall off the horse and for the horse to run away in fear.

Jude faced the boar in an offensive position. "Phi! Please, protect Milla!"

"On it!" agreed Phi, taking out her katana and defending Milla's defenceless body as she watched Jude fight the boar.

"Steel!" cried Jude, surrounded in a red aura for a second before facing the boar. He gave the boar a good kicks and punches before knocking it in the air with a Demon Fist. Once knowing the boar was gone, he ran back to Milla. "Milla, are you okay?"

"Sure, I'm fine," said Milla. "What now?"

With a determined look on his face, Jude bent down and picked up Milla, who was now on his back. "Hold tight," ordered Jude firmly as he began to walk. Phi understood her role to protect the both of them and ran forward. During their trip, Phi would usually be the one to kill the monsters, while Jude is defending Milla, and in no time, they arrived in Sapstrath Seahaven.

Jude placed Milla on one of the benches and told her, "Lemme go check up on the ship's schedule. I'll be right back."

Milla fished out what seems to be a strange object. Before Phi could question her about it, she heard, "Lady Milla! I finally caught up with you!"

Phi and Milla turned to see a young man with silver hair tied in a ponytail jumped down in front of Milla. "Ivar, what are you doing here?"

_'THAT'S Ivar? Evan's dad? Somehow, I feel sorry for him already,' _thought Phi, staring at Ivar. Ivar did look a little like Evan, well, because Evan is his son in the future, but Phi never met Ivar. Evan always said his dad was annoying in a way.

"When I saw your face on the wanted posters, I knew I just had to find you right away," said Ivar.

"Who's he?" asked Phi, pretending know not know Ivar.

"He's my handmaid, Ivar," explained Milla before turning back to Ivar. "But what about your duty to protect Nia Khera?"

"I begged the villagers to let me come to you. They were very understanding."

"You imbecile! That's not the point! Don't you realize-ergh!" As Milla stood up indigantly, she crashed down, forgetting about her unmoved legs until now.

"Lady Milla! Are you okay?" asked Ivar.

"Milla! Don't just stand! Remember your condition about your legs!" shouted Phi, bending down to help.

Ivar turned to where Milla's legs were and saw they were bandaged. "Your...your legs..." gasped Ivar. Quickly, he and Phi helped Milla sit on the benches. Then, Ivar turned to Phi and shouted, "How dare you hurt Lady Milla like that!"

"What?! I just met you, literally! How dare YOU accuse me of something that's not anyone's fault!" shouted back Phi.

"Both of you, stop!" cried Milla, trying to break up the argument.

"Oh yeah? How do you explain Lady Milla's legs? They're all bandaged! What happened?!"

"It was a simple accident! No one was at fault! So, calm down and listen!"

"Milla!" called Jude, rushing to the scene once he heard Ivar and Phi's arguing.

Ivar saw and recognized Jude. "Ah, I see! So, you were the one who did it! Tell me what you did to Lady Milla!"

"Stand down, Ivar. This wasn't Jude's or Phi's fault," ordered Milla calmly. "I brought this upon myself."

"But you wouldn't be in this predicament if I was at your side," said Ivar before turning to Jude. "Listen here, pipsqueak! Handmaids are made, not appointed! One must dedicate his life to serving and protecting Lady Milla! It is an esteemed position for real men! Manly men! She may have commanded it, but clearly it was a mistake to let an uncouch, unreliable, underhanded stranger like you to serve her holy person!"

"Hey, Jude is nothing like that, unlike you!" shouted Phi. "In case you haven't noticed, HE was the one who brought her safely here! HE was the one who helped rescued her! And HE has been supporting her all this time after she lost the ability! And what have you've been doing? Scouring around the whole land just to find your precious 'Lady Milla' when you should be protecting the people of, what was it, oh yeah, Nia Khera! So tell me, o wise guy, what is more important? Milla, or the people?"

"Well, it's both! But-"

"Answer. The. Damn. Question," ordered Phi through gritted teeth. "Who's most important?"

"Lady Milla! But why does it matter to you, an outsider who's never met Lady Milla? You should just scurry back to your family to wherever you came from, you ignorant little punk!"

That, Ivar, was a bad move.

"Shut up! Just back off, you senile old fart!" yelled Phi angrily. _'Now I know why Evan thinks he's annoying! I sure hope he has manners, otherwise, I'm ripping his damn head off with my own bare teeth!' _thought Phi.

"A-a senile old fart?!" shouted Ivar, shocked. Not once, has anyone called him that!

"H-hey, just let's all calm down," suggested Jude, trying to calm both of them down.

"Shut up!" shouted Ivar.

"Jude, please be quiet!" ordered Phi before turning back to Ivar. "So, yeah. I did call you a senile old fart. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't have to listen to this!" said Ivar before turning to Milla. "Now, come with me, Lady Milla."

"Wait! My father may be able to cure her legs!" said Jude.

"If what you say is true..." Ivar unsheathed his twin shortswords and pointed one at Jude. "I will be the one to take her to see him."

"Hey! Knock it off! There are civilians here!" reminded Phi.

"I've had you pegged as a phony from the moment I laid eyes on you!" continued Ivar, ignoring Phi. "Now, know your place and begone!"

'You can accompany her if you like, but I'm coming, too," said Jude.

"Ivar! Stop this nonsense!" ordered Milla.

"Please, Lady Milla, stay where you are," said Ivar, facing Jude. "You will thank me for this later."

In just a second, the fight started. Ivar slashed with great speed using his twin shortswords, but Jude was much faster as he easily dodged all of the slashes, not even getting a scratch. Phi unsheathed her katana and was trying to figure out the right time to stop the fight.

"How dare you do that to Lady Milla!" shouted Ivar as he kept slashing at Jude.

"I-"

"Shut up! I don't need to hear your excuses!"

"I tried-"

"I said, shut up! It's time you need to pay for your sins, you bastard!"

_'Come on...come on...' _thought Phi as she examined the fight and waited for an opening. When she saw Jude taking a few steps back and Ivar charging at him with both his shortswords at the same time, Phi jumped. Sparks flew from the sole of her shoe, and the air whistled by as her shoulder cut through it.

The space between Jude and Ivar narrowed quickly, but Phi's perception was much quicker, and it felt like time had slowed down. There was an expression of surprise on Ivar's face when Phi now stood in front of Jude, sword at ready.

Phi's katana was a little bit quicker and stronger, and the weapons collided as soon as they made contact. Phi kept her defense up the most, which caused Ivar to fly back on his back and out of breath.

"Cheater! The phony had help from a little girl!" accused Ivar.

"Call me whatever you want. I just want to help Milla!" said Jude.

Ivar, once he caught his breath, stood up. "How many times do I have to tell you? That's my job!"

"And how many times do I have to tell you? That may be your job, but you have to protect the people of Nia Khera first, you senile old fart!" reminded Phi.

"Don't tell me what to do! And stop calling me that!" shouted Ivar. Then, he, Jude, and Phi noticed Milla crawling away.

"I don't have time for this," said Milla. "You three can duke it out as much as you want. I'm leaving." Quickly, the three of them rushed towards Milla, forgetting their battle, and helped her to the bench.

Once they were done, Ivar kept glaring angrily at Jude. "If you still aren't satisfied, I'll fight you later," said Jude. "Right now, we need to get moving."

"Ivar, there is something important I have to give to you," said Milla, holding the weird device from before. "It's crucial that no one gets their hands on it. Consider this precious as my life. The lives of the Four are counting on it."

"And you're entrusting it to me? I shall defend it to my last breath, Lady Milla!" swore Ivar, retrieving the device.

"I know I could count on my handmaid. Now, return to Nia Khera."

Ivar was surprised. "What?!"

"Your duty is to protect Nia Khera."

"But Lady Milla! My place is with you!"

_'If he complains anymore, I think I'm going to lose my cool,' _thought Phi, cracking her knuckles.

"Don't make me repeat myself," warned Milla.

Ivar turned to Jude and ordered, "Hurry up and take her. But don't forget who's the real handmaid, here! This guy!"

"Um...sure thing," agreed Jude awkwardly. "And I promise I won't rest until Milla walks again."

"You got that right!" said Ivar as both Milla and Phi shook her heads, annoyed.

* * *

Skit: Parental Relationships

"I'm eagered to see what your hometown's like," said Milla as she, Jude, and Phi were traveling to Leronde.

"It's just a normal little boondocks town," said Jude. "It did used to be a famous mining colony, though."

"Since you're human, you must have parents," said Milla. "Are they a lot like you? Aren't you looking forward to seeing them?"

"My parents tend to prioritize work. We don't always get along."

"I've read about child-parent relationships," admitted Milla, interested. "There's something called, 'An Oedipus complex.'"

"Now I know that's definitely not it!" said Jude, surprised.

"Ah. So yours is more of the scheming, back-stabbing sort of family?"

"Just what kind of books have you been reading?!"

"What about you, Phi? What sort of family do you have?"

"..."

"Phi?" asked Jude.

"Ah, so Phi's family is more on the abusive side?" wondered Milla, making an assumption.

"I didn't even say anything about that!" shouted Phi, annoyed.

* * *

Skit: Similar traits

"Hmm..." pondered on Milla. "Jude, have you noticed that some of Phi's techniques are similar to yours?"

"Huh? Come to think of it, yeah," agreed Jude.

"I just copied them from a scroll," replied Phi. "Then, I trained the movements until I completely mastered them."

" I see. But why do the two of you looks similar?" asked Milla.

"It's just a mere coincidence," said Phi.

"I see. How strange. Humans can take almost the exact appearances? I wonder..."

"You talk as if you're not human yourself," said Phi, pretending not to know Milla's a spirit.

"Yeah, you can say that," said Jude.

* * *

Skit: A bad choice

"By the way, Milla, what was that device you handed to Ivar?" asked Phi.

"Milla, should we tell her?" whispered Jude.

"Yes, I think she deserves to know," agreed Milla. "Very well. You see, that device was the key to activating the Lance of Kresnik, a very large spyrix that absorbs mana into a powerful weapon that can kill, like a cannon. I know the Four Great Spirits were captured in them, and many people have gone missing because their mana lobes were being used as mana power-ups to increase and fill up the Lance of Kresnik."

"So, you're saying that the people of Sharilton-"

"Yes, they may have been used to enhance the Lance of Kresnik. I am deeply sorry for the loss of those who were forced to sacrifice themselves."

"It's okay, don't worry. This just gives me more reason to teach Nachtigal a lesson," said Phi. "That device was the same device you gave to Ivar, right Milla?"

"Yes, why?"

"That was a bad decision, Milla. What if he screws this up? For all we know, he could lose it!"

"You don't know that," defended Jude.

"Oh, now you're going to defend the guy? This is the same guy who kept insulting you, Jude! And worse, he abandoned his people to be with Milla! I get his reasons, but he still annoys me to no end!"

"I have a feeling that isn't the last time we'll see Ivar," muttered Jude, sweatdropping. "And the fights are going to be more intense between the two.

* * *

Skit: Senile old fart

"Are you okay, Phi? You kinda yelled at Ivar too much back there," said Jude.

"I'm fine. It's just that he makes me mad. Why did that senile old fart have to blame you for what's happened to Milla's legs? It wasn't even your fault! That's why I dislike people who blame others for things they didn't do."

"Senile old fart? Where did you get that?" asked Milla.

"Because of his white hair. And I don't care if it's actually silver. I'll keep calling him that until he apologizes."

_'I doubt he's going to apologize that soon,' _thought Jude, already feeling sorry for Ivar.

* * *

**Whew! I'm finished with this chapter! I'm sorry if this wasn't a good fight chapter, but please read and review!**


	5. The Mines

**Yeah, this'll be the last chapter before I go to school soon. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, but I will.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

Soon, Jude, Milla, and Phi arrived at a seaport that would lead to Leronde. Phi was taking the lead while Jude was carrying Milla. Just then, they heard the sounds of something rolling and fast footsteps.

"Faster! Faster! Let's burn rubber! Go! Go!" cheered a female voice. The trio turned and saw a young teenager with short brown hair in a wheelchair with a young boy pushing the wheelchair and running as fast as he could along with a girl running besides him.

As they were running, the girl saw three people, specifically Jude, Milla, and Phi in their way and called, "Ah! Roadblock! Stop!"

"Ah, you're right! Slower! Go slower!" ordered the teenager. **SWOOSH! **The boy pushing the wheelchair tried to screech to a stop, but he accidentally let go of the wheelchair, making the teenager on the wheelchair scream as she and the wheechair crashed into the water.

"Um...what just happened?" wondered Phi. _'Is it just me, or was that Recon's mother, Leia?' _she thought.

Jude had a smug smile on his face. "That's Leia, alright. Still the same as ever."

"Yeah...I'm going to go help her now." With that said, Phi took off her shoes and socks before diving right in the water and swimming towards Leia, who was floating on the water. Phi grabbed ahold of Leia's arm and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," thanked Leia as she and Phi swam back. After arriving back to shore, Leia was gasping for breath as she and Phi were trying to dry themselves. "Sorry for the close call. Are you okay?"

When Leia looked up, she saw her familiar childhood friend, Jude. "Hi, Leia. I'm home now," said Jude.

"What the-Jude?! Hey, Jude! What are you doing here?"

"I'm home. What are you doing here?"

Leia started frantically explaining while waving her arms, "W-well, I was just-um,These kids wanted to have a race, you see? And well, um...And this little guy is a real speed demon, so I had him push me in the wheelchair to keep fair."

Jude chuckled. "And lemme guess. You just had to be the winner, huh?"

"Oh yeah, never mind that. So, who are your new friends?"

"I suppose that you know this girl?" asked Milla.

"Uh, yeah. She's an old friend of mine," said Jude before turning to Leia. "This is my friend, Milla. And she's Phi."

"Hello Milla and Phi," welcomed Leia. Then, she saw the bandaged legs of Milla and gasped. "Huh? What happened to her legs?" She turned to the kids that accompanied her and ordered, "Run and get the doctor! This woman needs help!"

"Right! Roger!" cried the two kids before running off.

Leia grabbed the wheelchair and turned to Jude and Milla. "Are you heading home? Here, I'll come with you. Here, use this."

Once arriving at the doctor's office, or more like Jude's house, they saw a few patients in the waiting room. Once they saw Jude, they came up to him and asked questions of what Fenmont was like, or stuff like that. Then, a woman who looked a lot like Jude entered the waiting room and saw Milla's injured legs.

"I'm sorry, everyone. We have an urgent case here," apologized the woman. "You'll have to come back in the afternoon."

The patients nodded before leaving the waiting room. "Sorry, everyone! We'll catch you later! Promise!" called Leia.

One of the patients, an old man, laughed. "You've really gotten the swing of things here, haven't you, Leia?"

"Best nurse in town! Actually, the only nurse in town, but hey, you know how it is."

"Bring her in," said the woman.

"Thank you," said Milla, grateful for the kind woman.

After Jude, Leia, and Phi were in the waiting room, they waited for the results for Milla's legs. Phi thought, _'From what I remembered, the Jude in my future told me that the only way to cure Milla's legs was due to a device called an aspyrixis. He told me that his dad, or rather, my grandpa, still has it, even in the future, but you need to implant a spirit fossil in that device before you use it in the patient's legs. The spirit fossil is at the Felgana Mines, which is somewhere in Voltea Woods. Alright, I better head out and seek the spirit fossil. If Jude and the others ask, I'll just say I went exploring, and found one to keep as a keepsake.' _

"I'm sorry, Jude. This is as far as I can take you," said Phi, standing up. "I have to continue on my own journey. I'm sorry I can't see Milla's recover, but I pray that your father will heal her legs."

"Wait, you're leaving?" asked Jude.

"Unfortunely. Everyone has their own mission, just like Milla says. I'm sorry, but I hope we can meet again," apologized Phi, bowing her head in respect.

"You don't have to bow your head," said Jude, petting her in the head. "I understand. So, this is it then, huh? Thank you for your help."

"I'm glad you understand," said Phi before exiting the doctor's office. _'Now, to the Voltea Woods, and then to Felgana Mines!' _

* * *

_About an hour later... _

"Wind Blade!" cried Phi, channeling some wind spirits and sending them towards a large group of monsters. Many green blades of wind spread out in a fan shape and attacked many monsters, ripping them apart. The other monsters were injured, but not killed.

The remaining monsters issued a distorted howl as they confronted the little girl. Phi ran around their attacks, dodging all of them with great concentration, as she moved like a leaf at the mercy of the wind, and came behind them.

She quickly unsheathed her katana and slashed through some of them before leaping off the ground and somersaulting in the air and then landing on the air far away from the remaining monsters. "Void Sword!" Phi slashes with her katana several times in all directions, sending many sword slashes with such speed towards the remaining monsters, slicing all of their body parts and defeating them before sheathing her weapon.

Phi had spent a good hour trying to locate the mines in Voltea Woods, only to get lost and wander into a group of monsters. After opening her map for who knows how many times, and ran alone in the silent forest as she followed the map's instructions.

About nearly another hour had gone, she saw the mine's entrance up ahead, and was relieved that she had found it. Phi remembered that when Jude, Leia, and Milla entered the Felgana Mines, there was a monster that had a really huge spirit fossil in its forehead, enhancing its abilities.

This was the plan. Search through the mines. Find the monster, and kill it. Also, come out alive and run back to Leronde as fast as she could. Just doing that will save Jude and the others the trouble of searching for a spirit fossil.

Once inside, it was dark, except for a few plants that were glowing and illuminating the areas inside the mine. That were some fallen carts, rocks, a few hatchets, and other mining tools. That was to be expected for an abandoned mine.

_'Well, time to get digging,' _thought Phi. She picked up a pickaxe and started searching for any huge rocks in the areas. Then, she found a very large rock, and thought she saw something sparkle at the ground near it. Lifting the pickaxe above her head, she brought it down as hard as she could.

With some sounds of rock crumbling, Phi guessed that she cracked some of the huge rock and continued her barrage of attacks as hard and quickly as she could. Soon, the whole, huge rock collapsed into a big heap of small rocks, and there was several blue glowing stones in the ground from where the rock was once located.

Phi bent down and picked up one of the blue glowing stones, examining it carefully before throwing it away and standing up. _'It's a spirit fossil, but it's too tiny. I need to investigate deeper,' _she thought before entering the hole where the rock used to be only to use more of the mine.

Not only that, but she found bat-like monsters inside as well, but she easily fought them off, though most were very persistent. Finally, after exploring very deep in the mines for a very long time, she found spirit fossil fragments on the ground, and soon, was following a path that had a small trail of spirit fossils every now and then.

_'This ringing sound...it's getting louder and louder,' _thought Phi. _'I heard that spirit fossils give off a ringing sound, so I must be close!' _

Finally, Phi arrived in a really large room in all of the mining areas, which had lots of small and big spirit fossils up in the ceilings. Phi was amazed by the amount of spirit fossils here, but knew she had no time for that. As she wondered how to get the spirit fossils from up there while digging them up, she heard some rumblings and felt like something was about to pop out from the ground. Trusting her instincts like always, Phi jumped back as far away as she could.

**BOOM! **As expected, something did come out of the ground. It was a huge centipede-like monster with hard, rocky skin with sharp teeth, tiny, slender arms, and it looked like there was a huge spirit fossil on the top of its forehead.

"This is the one!" said Phi, getting ready to fight. She ran towards it, jumped up into the air, and kicked its skin multiple times before falling back, clutching both her now hurt legs. Its skin really was tough like the Golems she once fought, but no matter. She will find its weakness somehow.

The monster dug underground as Phi tried to attack it with all of her might. Phi, sensing something was wrong, twirled into the air, and saw the monster reappear while rotating like a drill before it dug underground again. Phi jumped to the ground, and leaped into the air again, seeing the monster do the same thing.

Phi let down her guard once she landed back on the ground, and she was sent flying in the air. However, she took that opportunity to unsheath her katana, stab the ceiling, and hang on. Luckily, the monster couldn't reach her there as it tried to.

Holding the hilt of her katana in one hand, and the other aiming for the monster, Phi began chanting an incantation for a spirit arte. "Waves come forth! Splash!" A series of water streams fell on the monster, splashing it in all directions and making it screech in pain.

Phi didn't want to ruin the spirit fossil, so while the monster was distracted, she pulled her katana out of the ceiling and fell down on top of the monster's forehead before trying to crack the spirit fossil open.

As if knowing Phi's true intent, the monster tried to dig underground again. Seeing that the monster was doing its part, Phi jumped off the forehead and into the ground, sheathing her weapon and going to use hand-to-hand combat.

Phi climbed up the wall using her own two feet, and just in time as the monster rose again to the surface. Phi kicked off the ceiling and arrived on its back. "Talon Storm!" Mustering up the strength, Phi striked using her own two palms several times.

The monster disappeared into the ground again, annoying Phi. Just how long is that monster going to be a coward and attack from underground?! Phi steadied herself, calmed down, and listened very carefully for the monster. With a single flick of her ears, she somersaulted out of the way, and the monster sprang up from the spot where Phi had once been.

Running towards the monster and not giving it a chance to escape, Phi crouched down and got ready to jump. "Dragon Shot!" With a simple leap, Phi performed an uppercut that possibly cracked the monster's jaw a bit before performing more attacks to the stomach. "Swallow Dance!" With each kick Phi delivered, she became higher, and higher, until she delivered a powerful kick to the spirit fossil.

Then, the monster dove underground yet again, but this time, it appeared much faster than Phi expected, and she was sent flying and hit the ceiling. When Phi turned as she was falling, she saw the monster's jaws open to devour her. However, she wasn't going to let that monster eat her.

Summoning up as much mana and channeling spirits as she could, Phi cried out, "Flames come forth! Fireball!" A very large fireball the size of a big rock shot from Phi's palms and entered the monster's mouth. The monster made the mistake of swallowing it before it coughed out smoke and fell down the hole. Phi gritted her teeth in annoyance before resorting to her Grimoire Fossil, which happened to be a yellow emerald in an single earring.

"Bolverk!" Immediantly after inserting mana in her Grimoire Fossil from simply touching it, a yellow wolf-like creature appeared in front of her and steadied himself. Bolverk was Phi's spyrite partner, and a thunder-type at that. Normally, she couldn't use it in the past because it would lead to questions, but there was no one here, so it was safe. The monster sprang up from a different hole and was heading straight towards Phi when, with lightning speed, Bolverk tackled the monster from the side with swift strength and bit it not so deep, but enough to keep hold of it.

"Keep him steady, Bolverk! I'll whip up a spell that'll definitely defeat him for sure!" promised Phi,gathering mana for a powerful spirit arte. Bolverk nodded before continue to attack the monster, even though his attacks meant little damage. Still, it kept the monster occupied and changed his attention to the growling spyrite. Finally, Phi chanted, "Bring all to ash and ruin...Explosion!" A small ball of fire dropped from the magic glyph that came from the ceiling, and when it hit the ground, it created a massive explosion, damaging everyone but Phi, who had a protective arte installed in case. Unfortunely, Bolverk was destroyed, but he was a spyrite, so he could be ressurected anytime with the Grimoire Fossil.

Phi was panting for breath. "That was...some workout," she said before walking towards the large, cracked spirit fossil the monster had on its forehead.

Just then, Jude, Leia, and Milla in a wheelchair entered the room and saw Phi walking towards a defeated, huge monster with a glowing blue spirit fossil on its forehead. "Phi?!" cried Jude, surprised to see her here.

Phi was also surprised to see them here. "Jude?! Everyone?! What are you doing here?! Especially Milla! Can't you see she's injured?!"

"I know that! We just came here for a spirit fossil," explained Jude.

"Whoa! Did you defeat that monster?" asked Leia, amazed.

"Yes, I just defeated it right now," said Phi, walking towards the monster and trying to crack the spirit fossil.

"So that's what all those noises were," muttered Milla. Phi managed to get a hunk of the spirit fossil and handed it to Jude.

"Here, this is what you needed, right?' asked Phi.

"Yeah, thanks. But what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to explore the mines. That's all. So, what are you doing here anyways?"

Suddenly, the monster rose its head and roared in anger. It swung its head at Jude, Leia, and Phi, and the three went crashing to the air. "Jude! Leia! Phi!" cried Milla. She saw the spirit fossil Jude had was near the ground next to her, so she fell off the wheelchair and crawled towards it. As the monster was about to attack her friends, Milla attached the spirit fossil to the device in her right thigh, whcih happened to be the aspyrixis. Instantly, pain shot from her legs through her whole body as she tried to endure it.

Finally, Milla stood up while in pain, muttering, "You're going to pay for that...Get away from them, you beast!" Once on her feet, she started charging towards the monster, letting out a battle cry as Jude, Leia, and Phi stood up and also faced the monster.

Phi unsheathed her sword, and together, Milla and Phi attacked the monster's back at the same time, while Jude and Leia attacked from the front. The monster shook its body to throw the four off guard and dug underground. Phi sensed the monster was going to head straight for Leia due to her instincts.

"Leia, jump back, now!" ordered Phi. Immediantly, Leia did what she was told, and the monster reappeared right in the spot where Leia was.

Milla jumped into the air and readied her blade. "Shimmer Spin!" Spinning around, Milla attacked several times at the monster's neck while in airborne.

"Energize...First Aid!" cried Leia, far in the distance. Phi felt her wounds close up in the warm, smoothing light before jumping and landing on top of the monster. Very quickly, Phi stomped many times on top of the monster, making the monster act as if it had a heache.

Milla and Jude stood side by side in front of the monster and prepared themselves. "Final Gale!" Milla slashed with her sword and Jude punched the air, both forming an X-shaped blade of wind that left a scar on the monster.

Phi leaped off the monster as if dove underground again. It reappeared behind Leia and fired some sort of dust-like breath at her, knocking her back. "Leia!" cried Jude, rushing to her side.

"Milla! I need time! Distract that monster!" ordered Phi, channeling some water spirits as fast as she could. Milla nodded before charging past Leia and Jude and attacking the monster in various directions.

Leia and Jude got up and also started attacking the monster, slowly weakening it. Whenever it tried to dive down again, the three wouldn't let it by using artes faster. When it uses its special breath attack, the others easily dodged that, and continued their barrage of attacks, slowly trying to bring the monster down to its knees.

"Get out of the way!" yelled Phi, now ready. At her command, everyone back away and behind Phi. "O mad and greedy waters, rise up and storm the very heavens! Tidal Wave!"

A huge wave appeared in front of Phi and grew in size as it got closer to the monster, completely engulfing it in its strong waters. When the waves have vanished, the monster fell to its own hole, completely defeated.

Sighing in relief, Jude turned to Milla, who was still standing. "You were able to use the aspyrixis!"

Taking a step, Milla suddenly collapsed, but Leia caught her and helped her lay down on the ground. "Leia! Can you do healing artes? If so, do it quickly!" ordered Phi.

"Yeah!" agreed Leia before she started healing Milla's wounds.

"Goodness. This is some device you humans have come up with," gasped Milla.

"How bad's the pain?" asked Jude, kneeling down to her.

"Well, it's not worse than I imagined, but...it's considerable."

"I'm sorry. I should have checked to see if that monster was still alive," apologized Phi.

"But you retrieved the spirit fossil for me. In a way, I am in your debt," thanked Milla.

'Let's get back to town. I'll go get the wheelchair," offered Jude.

"I'll help," said Phi, following after him. Both checked to see if the wheelchair was still functional and luckily, it still was. "By the way Jude, how exactly did Milla get on her feet?"

"Well, there's this device my father used to heal a patient's legs. It's called an aspyrixis, but you need a spirit fossil in order for it to work," explained Jude. "Even with the aspyrixis, Milla won't be able to complete her mission without someone's help. And that means I know what I have to do."

"Sorry, I think I'm at my limit," groaned Milla before her body went limp.

Jude checked her pulse and sighed in relief. "Don't worry. I think she's passed out."

"Then let's hurry back to Leronde so she can have proper rest there," suggested Phi.

As soon as they propped Milla up the wheelchair, Leia said, "I don't mind pushing the wheelchair on the way back.

"Okay. Why the sudden burst of compassion?" wondered Jude.

"Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

'Well, no. Just unexpected, I suppose."

"What can I say? I'm feeling really inspired by your friend here," told Leia, looking at Milla with inspiration in her eyes before she started pushing the wheelchair out of the area.

* * *

_Later... _

When the group arrived back in Leronde, Milla started to wake up and was surprised to see they were in Leronde. "Milla! You're awake!" cried Leia, happily.

"Thank goodness," said Jude.

"Welcome back," said Phi.

Just then, the woman that looked like Jude, which Phi guessed was Jude's mother, ran up to Jude and embraced him tightly. "Jude! Are you okay? Is anything broken? You went to the mine, didn't you? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I-I'm sorry, Mom," apologized Jude.

"Come to think of it, I did go to the mine to go see a spirit fossil and once I found it, I thought I would keep it as a keepsake, so there was actually no need for you to go," told Phi.

"Jude!" called Jude's father. He ran up, and much to Phi's shock, slapped his own son.

"Honey, don't!" said Jude's mother.

"What if something had happened to the girls?! Did you think at all before charging off?!" yelled Jude's father.

Phi was surprised at this. The Jude in her future told her that his mother was always sweet and kind, and very soft with him, but his dad was very strict and serious. She knew this was family business, so she decided to butt out.

"I did whatever I could do to help. I tried, unlike you, dad," told Jude calmly, not even looking at his own father.

Milla suddenly stood up and told Jude's father, "Please don't be so hard on him. He did well accomplishing his task."

"You're on your feet?" asked Jude's father, surprised that his patient, the one with frozen legs, could walk again.

"Thanks to these three," said Milla, refering to Jude, Leia, and Phi.

"Try not to overdo it now," said Leia, grabbing ahold of the wheelchair. "Hurry up and get back into the chair." Nodding her head, Milla slowly sat down on the wheechair.

"Darling," reminded Jude's mother.

Jude's father nodded and turned to Leia. "Leia, take her to the clinic at once."

"Yes, Doctor!" As soon as Jude's parents left, Leia told Milla, "Well, you know what, Milla? You're going to need some serious physical therapy."

"Right. Sorry to be a burden, Leia," apologized Milla.

"Hey, no worries! That's my job!"

* * *

Skit: Look alike

"By the way, Phi! I noticed that you and Jude look alike!" said Leia.

Phi sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I've heard this a buncha times. In fact, I'm just getting used to the idea that people are calling us that."

"The only difference is that you're a lot stronger and tougher than Jude!"

"What?!" exclaimed Jude.

"Oh?" That caught Phi's interest. "If that's the case, then I guess we really are different!"

"Hey wait! Don't I get a say in this?!"

* * *

_Skit: _Something's wrong...

"Hmm..." muttered Milla, examining Phi.

"What's wrong, Milla? Is something wrong with my face?" asked Phi.

"Yeah, you've been staring at her for quite some time," said Jude.

"It's just that...I sensed something very wrong with Phi," admitted Milla. "I can sense half the strength of a Great Spirit inside of her."

_'Crap! If anyone finds out that I'm a half spirit, I'm screwed!' _thought Phi, panicking even though she kept a calm face. "Maybe that's just my own strength."

"I don't know..." said Milla. "It's probably my imagination, though."

"Yeah." _'Thank the Spirits for that!' _

* * *

**Wanna know how Leia gets on deck as a stowaway? Easy! Read and find out!**


	6. Stowaways

**Okay, I'm going to stop talking now and let you guys read!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

Three weeks have passed, and finally, Milla was going to be discharged today. During the three weeks, Jude, Leia, and Phi helped Milla regained her footing, and Phi often sparred with Milla to help her regain her strength, which was a huge help for her. The day Milla said she was going to be discharged, Phi told the others her farewells before leaving the doctor's office, saying her job here was done, and she had her own mission to do. Everyone was a bit sad she had to leave, and understood.

Actually, Phi wasn't really going to leave, but hide in Leronde. She had to make sure Leia got onboard of the ship Jude and the others were going to she was spying on Milla, she saw Milla talking with Rowen and Elize, who had arrived in Leronde. She heard the whole conversation, and learned that Milla had told the two that she was a Spirit that was on a mission to destroy the Lance of Kresnik. Also, they were leaving tommorow, so Phi had to prepare everything. It wasn't only Leia leaving, but her as well.

The next morning, Phi was at the harbor, and sighed in relief when she saw that Jude and the others hasn't arrived yet. Well, it was too early in the morning, but the harbor was open. At the corner of her eye, Phi saw Leia quietly rushing towards the harbor, hiding behind one of the pillars as she looked around. Phi walked towards her and managed to sneak behind her.

"Going somewhere?" called Phi from behind. Leia jumped in surprise before turning around to see Phi.

"Phi?! What are you doing here?! I thought you were already gone!" said Leia.

"I...forgot something in Leronde that I was supposed to pick up. I dropped my bag," lied Phi. "Anyways, are you planning on sneaking onboard so that you can go on a journey with Jude and the others? Don't try to lie. I can tell when people are lying."

"How did you know?" asked Leia. "Wait, never mind. Don't tell Jude and the others!"

"I won't. But what ship were you about to sneak in?"

"Obviously, Sapstrath!" said Leia, proudly.

"How noble of you. However, that ship is actually going to Lakutam Seahaven. Jude and the others will board that ship. You're lucky I was here to inform you of that, or you would have gotten to the wrong ship."

"Really? Oh man, that's a relief! But, it's going to be difficult sneaking in. I'll need a distraction to get in quietly," said Leia, thinking about how to escape into the ship Phi pointed out.

"Wait. There's another way, Leia."

"Really? What is it?"

Phi turned to Leia with a serious look on her face. "Before I can tell you, you have to promise to do _exactly _as I say. No questions asked. What's your answer?" Leia nodded, agreeing to the terms. "Good. First of all, you have to get inside an empty barrel which I'll fill in with straw and hay later. I'll act like I'm a passenger and buy a ticket, then say that the barrel is one of my supplies. Next, if you ever meet up with Jude and the others, you absolutely must not tell them about our conversation and that I helped you sneak inside the ship."

"Huh? Why?"

"Didn't I say no questions?"

"..."

"Good, That's it. We're done," finished Phi.

"That's...it?" questioned Leia, surprised by the easy terms.

"Is there a problem? I seem to recall you promised to do exactly what I told you to do," said Phi, reminding her. "Okay! We don't have much time left! Now, let's go!"

From then, Phi brought an empty barrel before obtaining a lot of straw and hay. Leia got in, and Phi placed the straw and hay inside the barrel, making it really full and hiding Leia pretty easily. Afterwards, Phi carried the barrel to the ticket booth and bought a ticket, telling the manager that the barrel was one of her belongings. Then, she placed the barrel outside, told Leia not to come out, and went inside the ship.

In an hour later, Phi felt the ship move as she hid in the crew quarters, knowing full well that Jude and the others must have made it. By the time it was the sun was setting several hours later, Phi felt the ship come to a stop and peeked out to see they had reached their destination. As soon as she saw Jude, Rowen, Elize, Milla, and surprisely, Alvin and Leia leave the ship, she snuck out as well. Phi was surprised that Leia was caught that easily, and also surprised to see Alvin, whom she didn't expect to be in the ship, but this makes everything better.

She had hoped to sneak past them in the harbor, but Jude saw her and called out, "Phi! Is that you!"

_'Well, I expected this to happen,' _thought Phi, turning around. She pretended to act surprised and said, "Jude? And...Leia? What are you all doing here? Especially you, Leia. I thought you were back in Leronde. Did you somehow convince Jude to let you come on his journey?"

By Phi's acting, Leia remembered her promise to Phi and immediantly knew Phi was acting surprised. "Yeah! I sure did!" said Leia, cheerfully. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I told you all before, I'm on a journey, of course. And I just gotten back from training," lied Phi. "It seems wherever I go, you all follow. It must be some sort of coincidence."

"Yes. Well, if we follow the Lakutum Highroad up north, we shall reach a city called Xian Du," explained Rowen.

_'Oh, there was where Aylen was born. And I have been there before, so it shouldn't be a problem,' _thought Phi.

"Hold your horses," interrupted Alvin. "What about that monster that prowls the highroad? What's it called? The Lord of Lakutam?"

"My, you are well-informed," said Rowen, impressed. "Rest assured that the Lord of Lakutam is a slave to spirit climes just like any other monsters. Now that we have shifted into Ragnome, the beast will be positively timid. I doubt it will venture anywhere near the highroad."

"See, little buddy! No need to be scared!" teased Teepo.

'Don't expect me to pluck you from the monster's jaws, spud," said Alvin, shaking his head.

"Right then. Let's hit the highroad," said Jude. "Phi, are you coming with us?"

Phi remembered that she lied about having a grudge against Nachtigal for using people for the Lance of Kresnik, and nodded. "That's right. I remember that I have to take vengance towards Nachtigal."

"Oh yes. You did mention that," said Milla, remembering.

"Um...what's all this about?" asked Alvin.

"Milla and Jude told me about the Lance of Kresnik, and how the ki-no, the insane bastard Nachtigal uses people to power up that stupid Lance of Kresnik just to obtain power. He's someone who needs to be put down," cursed Phi, getting angry. Actually, she was angry the king would do something like that, so she actually has a reason to come with the group.

"Damn, that's a lotta hate," said Alvin, impressed and surprised.

"What did you expect? He murdered thousands of people just for power!"

"I don't know what's going on, but can we get moving?" asked Leia.

"Yes, you're right," agreed Rowen.

Getting to Xian Du was a bit difficult. Along the highroads, there was a huge canyon the group had to go through, and some monsters as well. Everyone cooperated and stopped the monsters in their way, Phi had to keep protecting Milla's back, and Leia' healing artes and staff skills were really useful.

After a while, a white dove appeared from the sky and landed on Alvin's shoulder. "Expecting a message, Alvin?" asked Jude.

"Huh?" wondered Milla, not understanding what's going on.

"I've seen him using that bird to send letters before," whispered Jude to Milla's ears. "To a woman, apparently."

'Sorry, folks. I'll be done in a jiff. Everyone, take five," called Alvin before walking to a corner and opened the letter his dove delivered to him. While the others were also taking a break, Milla, Jude, and Phi decided to talk with each other privately.

"Hey, Milla," said Jude. "You gave something to Ivar the other day. Was it the thing you swiped from the labortatory?"

"Yes. It was the spyrix used to operate the Lance of Kresnik."

"That little thing?! But shouldn't you keep it with you?"

"No, the better question is, shouldn't you have destroyed it?" asked Phi.

"No. In fact, it would be dangerous to get anywhere near the Lance of Kresnik with that syrix in hand," said Milla. "There is a problem. The channeling circle that bound and captured the Four...I believe it was generated by that spyrix. I will need to generate a channeling circle of equal power to release them."

"In other words, you need that spyrix to save the Four Great Spirits," concluded Jude.

"That's why you didn't destroy the key when you had the chance?" asked Phi.

"Yes. I may need the Four's power to destroy the Lance of Kresnik as well. The real question is when I should retrieve the key from Ivar."

"Hey, does that mean you can also use syrpix to cast artes?" questioned Jude. "It's not just for the Lance of Kresnik?"

"Hmm..." Milla thought about it. "What's the simplest way to explain this...Remember the street lamps back in Fenmont? People light them with spirit artes. It's a simple parlor trick, even a child could do it. But what happens if more powerful artes are required?"

"Those require a powerful caster, someone with a mana lobe of sufficient capacity. The greater the capacity, the more mana can be produced when artes are used," explained Jude. "That capacity is determined at birth. It's immutable."

"Precisely," agreed Milla. "That's one of the laws in Rieze Maxia. But a spyrix doesn't rely on its caster at all. A caster wielding a spyrix can power anything from a small lamp to a gigantic object like the Lance of Kresnik. Mana capacity ceases to be a limitation."

"But that sounds really handed," said Jude.

"But deadly," reminded Phi. "With a spyrix, anyone can wield potential artes strong enough to best the Four Great Spirits. And anyone can use that power to kill not only spirits, but people as well."

"By the way, Phi, are you really not a spirit?" asked Milla as the others came towards them after Alvin had finished writing a letter and sending his dove away.

"I told you before, I'm not a spirit," said Phi. This wasn't the first time Milla asked her. During those three weeks, Milla did sense potential and tremendous power inside Phi's small body, and asked her countless times if she was a spirit. Each time, Phi denied.

"But you definitely have half the strength of a Great Spirit," reminded Milla. "Only half, though. That's unusual for a human to have."

"Maybe I'm just special in a way," said Phi. "Anyways, please stop asking me that. It's getting really irritating."

"Milla, I think Phi's right," agreed Jude.

"No, Phi is definitely suspicious," said Milla, crossing her arms.

"Oh man, what's going on?" asked Alvin.

"I sense the power of a spirit inside of Phi, but I know she's human," explained Milla.

"A sturning deduction," said Phi, still calm. "I await your further insight. She has the aura of a spirit, yet she's human? Come on, please don't joke around, Milla. I'm telling you, I'm not a spirit."

"Then explain the aura you have, and your tremendous power," said Milla.

"But I really don't know," said Phi. "I know I'm full human, 100% sure! My parents are both humans. Heck, I've even seen myself bleed from wounds or papercuts or something!"

"That's not good enough."

"Alright then," said Phi. "Let's say that I'm a spirit disguised as a human. IF I am one, then where's your proof?"

"Proof?" Come to think of it, Milla didn't think of anything like that.

"You see? That's it, we're done with this conversation," sighed Phi in relief. "Now-"

"Lady Milla! There you are!"

Oh no. Jude turned around to see Ivar jump out of nowhere. Yes, that person just had to be Ivar. And Phi was still in a bad mood. Ivar was not helping. Oh joy.

"It's a miracle! You can walk again!" cried Ivar happily. "I'm so gl-"

"Why are you here?!" yelled Phi angrily."No, I should rephrase that. Why the HELL are you here, and not back in Nia Khera?! You're supposed to be PROTECTING the people there instead of searching for your idol, MILLA! Didn't I say to go back to Nia Khera?! But would you listen?! NO! You just had to come, you SENILE OLD FART!" If looks, especially angry, dangerous-looking ones, could kill, Ivar would be dead right now.

"W-what?! You're still calling me that?!" exclaimed Ivar. "Ugh, never mind!"

"Um...who's this guy?" asked Leia, turning to Jude.

Jude walked out from behind Milla and answered, "Milla's handmaid."

"Now that your legs have healed, you must return to the village at once. Please!" pleaded Ivar. "If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do."

"I cannot return yet. I have business in Fenmont," explained Milla sternly.

"In that case, allow me to accompany you!"

_'No! If he does and gets killed along the way, Evan won't be born!' _thought Phi, also not wanting Ivar to come because he was annoying.

"That won't be neccessary. I have all the help I can get," replied Milla.

Ivar looked mad and looked like he was struggling to keep calm, creeping out Leia. "He's got some issues, huh?" Leia whispered to Jude.

"So with that said, PLEASE return back to Nia Khera," said Phi, smiling and speaking in the gentlest, cutest way as possible. All of the boys knew she was just faking that innocent look and actually steaming inside.

"You must feel pretty leased with yourself now that Lady Milla is back on her feet again," Ivar told Jude.

"Well, I did promise I would help her walk again, and here she is, walking," reminded Jude.

"How dare you take credit for this miracle!" accused Ivar, pointing a finger at Jude. "It was all due to Lady Milla's divine power! It must have been!"

"Milla," said Phi kindly. "If Ivar doesn't leave in one minute, may I have permission to throw him to Nia Khera?"

"Um...I'm quite sure that's a bad idea," said Alvin.

"Why?" wondered Milla, not getting what Phi was saying. Changing the subject, Milla turned to Ivar. "Anyways, Ivar, I gave you an important mission. Why are you here?"

Ivar then leaped into the air and landed in front of Milla before bowing down. "I've not forgotten about the safety of the village. And the item you entrusted to me is safe! I have it hidden in a place like no other. However, I currently received this."

Ivar handed a letter to Milla, and Milla took it before reading it outloud, "'Mexwell is in danger. You must rescue her at once.'"

"I rushed forth immediantly. I only just caught up to you, Lady Milla."

"Who could have written something like this?" wondered Jude, voicing Phi's thoughts.

_'He's right. This should have been written in the adventures Jude and his friends wrote back in my time. But it really isn't. I should have remembered this sort of thing,' _thought Phi.

"I wonder," said Milla. "But in any case, it's mistaken. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"Word of advice, Ivar," told Phi. "Ignore that letter. If more come, just ignore them no matter wha-Everyone, out of the way!" Everyone except Ivar, who had his back turned, ran out of the way as quickly as they could. Ivar turned around just in time to get knocked to the ground by a very large rat monster. (I decided to replace Brutaur with this unnamed being because it's much larger than Brutaur and possibly stronger)

"W-what is that thing?!" questioned Leia as she and the others got ready to fight.

"That doesn't matter! Let's go!" ordered Phi. "Besides, I wouldn't mind blowing off a little bit of steam right now!" _'If Ivar dies here, then that means Evan will never be born! I can't let that happen!' _

"Um...okay?" said Jude, feeling the anger that Phi was feeling towards the monster. Actually, that anger came from the frustration at seeing Ivar here.

Despite the rat monster's huge size, it has very low defence and speed in exchange for incredible strength. However, with Phi's anger increasing her strength and Elize and Leia giving her a huge boost for strength using their artes to back her up, Phi was powerful enough to face the rat monster.

As the rat monster brought down its huge claw, Phi caught it with all of her strength and threw it back, making the rat monster stumble before attacking with its other claw. Alvin and Rowen charged in, stabbing their weapons at the same time at the rat's sides, making him roar in pain. Phi was down on her knees, unable to hold the rat's huge strength much longer. Suddenly, the weight became lighter, and she turned her head and saw Jude supporting her.

Elize and Leia were all the way in the back, providing support for their team, when Milla leaped on top of the rat monster's arm before stabbing her sword in its arm and running up to it, slicing its arm off in the process until she sliced its head off.

"She did it!" cheered Elize. Just then, Ivar started to wake up, and he clutched his head in pain. Phi sighed in relief when she saw him still alive. Good. Now her friend from the future, Evan, won't disappear.

"You call that timid? I thought you said that monster would be a pussycat now that it's Solum and Ragnome here," said Alvin, confronting Rowen. "But look! While we were beating the crap of it, it started lashing out violently!"

"That would be the case," agreed Rowen. "Unless-!"

"With the Four Great Spirits missing, the spirit climes have essentially stopped shifting," grunted Ivar, getting up.

"Great. How will we cross Ferzebel Marsh to get to Fenmont?" questioned Jude.

"Cross Ferzebel Marsh?" said Ivar, surprised. "Hahaha! You people are out of your minds!"

"Hey! Knock it off, you senile old fart!" scolded Phi. "You have any other bright ideas that might lead us to Fenmont, because if you do, we'd sure LOVE to hear them!"

"Stop calling me that! Anyways, you need a wyvern to reach Fenmont at this point! Fortunately, it just so happens that I, the redoubtable handmaid, can be of assistance to Lady Milla!"

_'Oh yeah, that's right. Unfortunely, I've never seen a wyvern before. I did hear they were in Xian Du, but in my time, all of them were extinct,' _thought Phi. _'That, and because they were turned to Dark Spirits themselves.' _

"Do you know a way to get there?" asked Milla.

"I have in my possession, a wyvern faithful only to me," explained Ivar. "I would be happy to transport Lady Milla to Fenmont."

"Hey! What about the rest of us?" questioned Phi. "We need to get to Fenmont too! Don't you have other wyverns?"

"I only have one, and my wyvern can only carry TWO people! I don't need the rest of you, especially you, girl! You're the only one so far who's been rude to me!" argued Ivar.

_'That self-satisfied bastard! Well, the second he leaves, I'll pretend I remember something and tell the others there might be wyverns in Xian Du,' _thought Phi, strategizing.

"Ivar, is there another way?" asked Milla.

"Huh? Oh, well..."

"There is, isn't there? Tell me."

"..." Ivar looked away before telling her, "I have heard of a clan in Xian Du that can control monsters. They raise Wyverns there, apparently."

"I guess there's our next step," announced Alvin.

_'Well, I guess Evan's dad really is useful sometimes,'_ thought Phi.

"Ivar, thank you," thanked Milla before she noticed Ivar didn't respond back. "Ivar?"

"Uh, shall we go?" asked Jude.

"Yeah," agreed Phi. "Let's move, people! We have to get to Fenmont as soon as possible!"

"No need to tell me twice," said Alvin. "I'll lead the way. I've been there quite a couple times." With that said, the others headed towards Xian Du, leaving Ivar to whatever he's going.

* * *

Skit: Secret

"So Leia, how did you know which ship we would be going to?" asked Jude curiously.

Before Leia could answer, she could see Phi right behind Jude. Her expression on her face reminded Leia that she had promised not to mention herself, so that meant Leia had to lie. "Um...well, I got on a ship that was heading towards Sapstrath, and I ended up here."

"So it was just by luck? Man, bad luck really is a frightening thing," said Jude before walking away.

As soon as he left, Leia asked, "Hey Phi! Why do you want to keep it a secret that badly?"

"Didn't I say no questions? You did promise after all," reminded Phi.

"True...fine! But, I'll somehow trick you into telling me someday!"

"I'll look forward to it."

"...Phi? Can you tell me why it's not a secret?'

"Nice try, Leia. But it'll take more than that."

"Oh man!"

* * *

Skit: Pigs Fly

"Tell me, Phi. You are a Spirit, yes?" questioned Milla.

"Not again. I told you over and over I'm not a spirit," said Phi.

"Then, what are you?"

"A human."

While Milla was confronting Phi about whether she was a spirit or not, Alvin and the others were watching from nearby. "Man, Milla sure doesn't give up interrogating Phi, does she?" said Alvin, crossing his arms.

"This is the fifteenth time today she's asked Phi that. You think she'd give up after Phi given the same answer over and over," sighed Jude.

"The day Milla finally accepts Phi being a human is the day pigs fly," joked Leia.

"Phi! Look out behind you!" cried Milla, pointing behind Phi. Phi turned around to see a wild boar charging towards her at fully speed.

With a yell, Phi used her bare hands to stop the boar, though she did slid back a few inches. Then, she picked it up by the horns and threw it towards the sky, where it was never seen again.

"...So, what was it about pigs flying?" said Jude.

"Thaat-that doesn't count!" exclaimed Leia, still shocked over what happened.

* * *

Skit: War Cry

"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" ordered Milla as she and her team prepared to face against a large group of small plant-like monsters.

_'Hmm...I haven't worked on my War Cry technique for a while, so maybe I should test it out,' _wondered Phi, taking a deep breath. Once she let out her breath, she screamed at the top of her lungs, creating a loud shriek similar to a bird's screech that echoed through the area and scared away the monsters. It also made everyone but Phi cover their ears.

"Ow! What was that?!" asked Jude.

"Oh, I was trying to perfect my War Cry technique," said Phi. "It's a technique I developed that allows you to scream at the top of your lungs. It usually works on small animals."

"Really? I wish to learn," suggested Milla.

"I'm still tryng to perfect it, so it's not full complete, I think. So, you'll have to wait."

"Alright then."

"That could come useful sometimes," said Jude.

"And possibly hurt our ears too," said Alvin, still winching in pain.

* * *

Skit: Anger issues

"Come on, people! Let's move!" called Phi, way ahead of the others.

"Hey Phi, wait! I've been meaning to ask you something," called back Alvin, catching up to her.

"What?"

"What's your deal with Ivar? When he came, you suddenly lashed out at him, and to be honest, I was literally surprised."

"Oh, that. I don't think Phi likes people who doesn't take their orders seriously," said Jude.

"Um...you're kinda right," admitted Phi.

"What about when you called Ivar a 'senile old fart?'" asked Rowen.

"Yeah...Look, first of all, I'm not talking about you Rowen, so you're okay," assured Phi. "Second, he has white hair. I know it's silver hair, but to me, it's white. Also, he's annoying and yelled at Jude despite the fact he's done nothing wrong. That's why I'm calling him that."

'And you took out your anger on that huge monster," reminded Alvin.

"Yes. And that was quite refreshing. Though, I'm sorry if I scared any of you," apologized Phi, bowing her head.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it scary, but do maintain your anger issues, alright?" requested Rowen.

"I know. I will try to restrain myself, but if worse comes to worse, I'm going to throw an enemy as hard as I could," said Phi in the sweetest tone ever.

"...What?" asked Jude. Before he could question more, Phi ran off. "...That was scary."

"Women always are scary, kid. It's part of life," said Alvin, throwing his arm around Jude's shoulders. "...Just imagine if Milla was angry."

The three men shuddered at the thought and just kept on walking.

* * *

Skit: Boyfriend?

"Hey Phi! Since you and Jude look alike, would you two be considered boyfriend and girlfriend?" teased Alvin.

"W-what?!" exclaimed Jude.

_'Ugh! Sicko! Jude's-well, he's technically going to be my father in this time, and I understand that the others don't know that, but still!' _thought Phi. "No. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings Jude, but I don't like you in that way, and I never will. We'll still be friends, anyways."

"Ouch! Turned down so quickly," said Alvin. "And here I thought the honor's student was a ladies man with all of the girls in our team. Well, except for Phi."

"Says the guy who keeps writing to a mysterious woman," countered Phi. "Speaking of which, who is that lady you keep writing to?"

"Aren't you a bit too young to know about love already?"

"Says the guy who just proclaimed that me and Jude should be lovers," said Phi.

"Heh, you've got a point there."

"You still haven't answered my question. Who is she?"

"One of my clients."

_'Yeah, I doubt that. But, in order not to raise suspicion on Alvin, I have to play it cool,' _thought Phi. "Fine. Whatever. Oh, and don't you dare say that me and Jude are boyfriend and girlfriend. That's just disgusting."

"Oh? And what'll you do if I do say it?"

"Oh, then I'll call you a senile old fart too. And believe me, there are plenty of insults I could say to your face."

"Fine, fine. You win."

* * *

Skit: Differences in age

"By the way, Phi? I don't mean to be impolite, but how old are you?" asked Elize.

"...20 years old."

"Whoa! Seriously?!" exclaimed Leia.

"I'm just joking around. I'm actually 12 years old."

"That means you're the same age as Elize!" pointed out Jude.

"Yet you still don't act your age," said Alvin.

"Hey! I'm a respectable adult who takes things seriously," said Phi.

"Okay, one, being an adult means you have to be 18 years old," reminded Jude. "And two, you may be mature and all, but I'm sorry to say this, but you can be quite rude sometimes."

"...Oh. I'm sorry if I'm rude then. I'll try to change," apologized Phi, bowing her head.

"It's fine," said Jude.

* * *

**Whew! I'm done for today! Please read and review!**


	7. Tournament

**I am so excited about this story! Only wish I had some ideas for this story from the reviews, though. Anyways, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

At last, the party arrived in Xian Du, which happened to be a huge city with huge cliffs, bridges, friendtly tamed monsters, and stone buildings. It was rumored that it was a LONG way down from jumping off the bridge and into the bottom.

"So this is Xian Du. Seems like a tough place to build a city," murmured Jude.

"Clans have warred against each other in Auj Oule since ancient times," explained Rowen. "Such constant conflict had led people to build cities where they can, even in places like this."

'The city seems especially lively. Are they having some kind of festival?" wondered Milla.

"Hey! Check out this cool statue!" said Leia, pointing to one of the tall, crafted stone statues near the entrance.

"These statues represent a fusion of international spirit faith and the loca tradition of ancestor worship," explained Phi, impressing Leia even more.

"Yep, keepy your noggin pointed in that general direction," said Alvin.

"Huh?" Leia looked at Alvin, confused.

"Don't look at me. Look up! This town is infamous for falling rocks."

"What?! Don't scare me like that!" said Leia.

"You speak as though you know the area," said Milla to Alvin, quite suspiciously.

"Been here before. Business trip."

When Jude saw Elize staring and looked around the area, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hey, this place looks familiar, ain't it, Elly?" asked Teepo.

"Yes, it is. Um...I think we were taken here, on our way to Hamil."

"Did you once live in this area?" asked Rowen.

"I don't know."

"Uh...what's going on? Is there something I should know?" asked Phi.

"Oh yeah. You're probably the only one who doesn't know," said Jude. "You see..."

Jude explained to Phi that Elize has been trapped in the town of Hamil by a man named Jiao, and the villagers treat her horribly there, until Jude and his friends showed up. Since then, Elize has been trying to find out the truth about her past.

_'Oh yeah...Elize's parents are dead, and she was born in some snowy lands,' _thought Phi. _'Or, at least the Jiao in my time told me that his mother told him.' _

Leia noticed Alvin walking away, and asked, "Hey! Where are you headed off to?"

"Duty calls. I'll see you all in a bit," replied Alvin before leaving.

"Hmph! You're not much of a team player!"

"You okay with this?" Phi heard Jude ask Milla.

"Leave him be. I know he'll be back. Let's look for those wyverns."

_'Okay, any second, a boulder is going to fall from above,' _thought Phi, glancing up at the top of the cliffs in Xian Du. _'I need to decide who to save. Everyone will survive, so...I think I'll take Jude and Elize.' _

Just then, as if on cue, a few small rocks came from the sky, and everyone else looked up to see a boulder was about to fall from the cliff. "It's going to fall!" cried Milla.

"Everyone, run!" ordered Phi, grabbing onto Elize's and Jude's waists before leaping into the air and jumping into a far, safe distance while Rowen tackled Leia to the ground and Milla ran for it.

**CRASH! **The sound of the boulder crashing down was so loud, all of Xian Du heard it. Phi set Elize and Jude down and asked them, "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," said Jude, nodding his head.

"I'm not fine! I'm not fine at all!" cried Teepo, scared.

"Miss Leia, please wake up!" pleaded Rowen, shaking the unconscious Leia as the others ran towards them.

"Heh, sorry about that," apologized Leia drowzily.

"Jude! Hurry up and examine her!" ordered Phi, frantically worried for Leia's life.

"Right! I'll have you fixed right up!" agreed Jude, kneeling besides Leia before healing her.

Leia turned her head to Rowen and saw a bit of a gash across his cheek. "Rowen, you're hurt. I'm so sorry."

"Never fear. It is merely a flesh wound. You just worry about yourself."

A few citizens of Xian Du were examining the ruins of the boulder, wondering what could happened. Then, a woman with short dark hair rushed over and said, "I'm a doctor. Let me help." After Leia was helped, the woman helped her up. "There you go. Easy does it."

"Thanks so much, Miss...um..."

"The name's Isla. You're going to be just fine."

_'Isla, huh? So, this Aylen's mother,' _thought Phi. _'This is my first time seeing her, and looks like Aylen was right. She does look beautiful, even in this time. Hmm...from what Aylven told me and the others, his mother was a part of Exodus in this time, but she fell in love with Aylen's father, Yurgen. But that's all I know.' _

"Take it easy, Leia," assured Milla.

"You should sit down for a while," suggested Jude before turning to Isla. "Thanks so much, Isla. That was really kind of you."

"Yeah. That was nice of you to help," said Leia.

Isla shook her head. "Not at all. That's my job. You folks don't look like you're around here. What brings you to town?"

"We're searching for wyverns. We heard we might be able to find some here," answered Milla.

"Wyverns, huh? In that case, you shoudl head across the river. You'll find some big ones in cages over there."

"That's great news! Thank you for everything, Isla!" thanked Jude.

Islan chuckled. "I'm just glad I could help. Well, I gotta run. Take care of yourselves. Bye now."

"Goodbye, and thanks again," thanked Leia. After resting a bit, the group headed towards the direction where Leia told them to go, and soon, they found a small zoo of very few wyverns trapped in a large cage.

"Amazing. I've seen wyverns in books, but never in real life," admitted Phi.

"Who;s a good wyvern?" cooed Teepo. "Who's a good wyvern?!"

The shocking response Teepo received was a roar coming from one of the wyverns, who frightened Teepo and made him swallow Jude's face...again. After Jude finally pried Teepo off his face, a man with two companions walked up to the group.

"You there! What do you think you're doing? Those wyverns belong to our clan," called the man in the middle.

"We've come to take them. I'm pondering how to break the cages," admitted Milla straight on.

"Milla, that's considered stealing! It'll make you a criminal," explained Phi, shocked of how Milla could say that without blinking an eye.

"Um...can we borrow your wyverns?" asked Jude politely.

"You can't be serious!" one of the men said.

"Ignore these outsiders. We're running out of time to find a champion," advised the woman. Milla glanced at one of the wyverns with calm eyes, and the wyvern bowed its head, letting a low purr in response.

"What?! It submitted to her without the use of beastcraft!' one of the men exclaimed. "These people might be our answer."

"Wait, hold on! You can't possibly be thinking of recruiting these fools!" the woman cried.

The man ignored her and turned to the group. "I'm Yurgen of the Kitral Clan. You outsiders have arrived in Xian Du at a crucial time for us. I'm sure you've noticed the crowds in the city."

_'Oh! So that's why that man looked familiar! He's Aylen's father! At least he and Isla are safe for now,' _thought Phi, a look of realization on her face.

"Once, every decade, Xian Du's clans hold a martial arts tournament. That tournament is tommorow," continued Yurgen. "Our chief is the clan's only fighter, but unfortunely, he is league's away from the king's service. We're on the verge of forfeiting the tournament. This is a desperate time for our ancient and proud clan. And yet, I sense a special power within you. Would you be willing to represent the Kitarl Clan as our champions?"

"Heck yeah! Where do I sign up?!" asked Leia, excitedly raising her hand.

"Leia, he's asking all of us," corrected Jude.

"If we enter the tournament on your behalf, will you allow us to borrow your wyverns?" asked Milla.

"That's the bargain," agreed Yurgen. "But you must do more than just enter. You must win. I'll need to see a demostration of your abilities beforehand as well."

"We can do it, can we, Milla?" asked Leia.

"Yes. We need those wyverns."

"Awesome! I always wanted to be in a real martial arts tournament! I'm stoked!"

"You sure it's okay for outsiders like us to participate in the clans' tournament?" asked Jude.

"That's not a problem," answered one of the men. "Some clans have been known to recruit skilled warriors from the outside to boost their prestige."

"Huh. I figured you folks were bigger sticklers for tradition," said Alvin, who came walking up to the area. "I'm gone five minutes and you get us neck deep in contact sports? I can't take you people anywhere."

"Oh, how long were you there?" asked Phi calmly.

"Where have you been, little buddy?!" complained Teepo angrily. "We were nearly squished!"

"Sorry about that, spud. I had a feeling you were all in trouble though, so I came running. No harm, no foul, right?"

Yurgen turned to Jude and asked, "He a friend of yours?"

"That's right. We're a package deal," answered Alvin.

"Good, then you can show me your combat skills. Come to the aerial arena." Soon, the group followed Yurgen to the tournament aerial arena, where it was large and almost reached the skies. Of course, they had to take a boat ride to the arena's entrance, sign up, and then arrive where the battlefield would take place.

"Ohhh! Now this is what I like to call an arena!" cheered Leia.

"Maybe you're a little _too_ into this, Leia," said Jude.

"Oh, come on! Aren't you ready to rumble?!" squealed Leia.

"I'm not sure I'd put it like that. Your old wounds aren't acting up, are they?" asked Jude, concerned.

"Huh? Uh, no. It's fine! Now that we're doing this, it's going to have to heal whether it likes it or not!"

"Time to start the test. Are you ready?" asked Yurgen.

"Yes, go ahead," assured Milla.

"We'll be watching from the stands," said Yurgen before he and his friends walked out of the arena. Jude and the others heard the sound of a gate opening and turned to see a few monsters appear out of it. Everyone immediantly took out their weapons and prepared to fight.

Two of the monsters stood by and started channeling some spirits while the other two charged right in to distract the others. "Whirling Assault!" cried Milla, taking the first move and slicing and spinning in the air and sending one of the charging monsters up to the sky.

"Phi!" called Jude as he and Phi ran ahead side-by-side. Jude bent down, and cupped his hands together. Phi jumped on top of his cupped hands, and Jude launched her towards the flying monster.

Letting out a yell, Phi kicked the monster high in the sky, where it was no longer visible and faded away in the clouds. Realizing that Phi was falling down from a very high distance, Jude reached out his arms and caught her in time.

"You okay?" he asked, putting her down.

"I'm fine, thanks, though."

Alvin, who had just seen the monster disappear into the sky, whistled. "Man, that was really far, almost like she broke a world record."

"Alvin! Focus!" scolded Rowen as he and Elize were casting spirit artes. He would be casting offensive artes while Elize would be casting supportive ones. Speaking of which, Leia had just defeated and beaten up the second charging monster with a few staff tricks.

Suddenly, the monsters that were channeling spirits had finally caught enough to cast a spirit artes called Rock Mountain, which resulted with giant rocks appearing from the sky and pelting down on the party.

"Aaaahh! I don't wanna experience this again!" cried Teepo as Elize was clutching onto him. Milla was trying to channel spirits as fast as she could to cast a spirit arte that could destroy all, if not most, of the falling rocks. Alvin and Leia were working side by side to defend against the rocks and Rowen and Jude were trying to dodge the rocks while trying to get everyone to safety.

Phi was also doing her best to reach the monsters that had casted the arte in the first place, but as she was trying to reach them, the boulders kept getting in her way, irritating her. Then, she turned and saw a boulder was about to land on top of Elize and Teepo-!

"Get back!" shouted Phi, rushing towards Elize's side and preparing for the falling boulders. As Phi defended with her katana, the boulders came at her repeatedly with a crushing might that felt like one of them could take her life with one hit. There wasn't any room for Phi to land a counterattack. In fact, a small rock had hit Phi's forehead so hard, blood started gushing out of it.

Elize gasped when she saw blood running through Phi's forehead and immediantly chanted, "Sing in unison a song of regeneration! Fairy Circle!" She didn't have enough time to collect lots of spirits to form a huge healing circle, but she focused her healing on a small circle surrounding Phi, completely healing her wounds.

"Jude!" cried Leia, readying her staff as she dodged more boulders. She and Jude ran in opposite directions, running towards one of the remaining monsters.

"Tempest Clash!" both of them shouted in unison, slashing through the monster in the blink of an eye with Leia's staff and Jude's fists.

"Let's go, too!" Alvin ordered Milla and Rowen. Alvin and Rowen charged towards the last monster while Milla was knocking the falling rocks that were about to crash down on both men.

"Hell Pyre!" yelled Alvin and Rowen. Rowen was showering fireballs at the monster while Alvin had shot up in the air and slashed down with his one-handed sword, annihilating the monster.

Once the monsters were defeated, everyone sighed in relief before putting their weapons away. "That was certainely a workout," said Milla, amused.

"Phi, are you alright? Your forehead was bleeding!" asked Elize, concerned.

"Don't worry. Thank you for healing me," thanked Phi.

"My, that wasn't so bad at all!" said Rowen.

"Says the old man who kept dancing around, trying to dodge all those boulders," said Alvin.

"Why, you were doing the same thing too!"

Just then, Yurgen and his friends rushed to the arena, looking impressed. "I was afraid we might had to step in and rescue you, but clearly that wasn;'t neccessary," said one of the men.

"Of course not! We're unbeatable!" bragged Teepo.

_'Says him. Just yesterday, it took Rowen about almost an hour to patch him up,' _thought Phi, sweatdropping.

"My apologies. I guess I underestimated you," apologized Yurgen.

"Just me?!" exclaimed Teepo, looking mad.

Alvin chuckled. "Pretty sure everybody here underestimates you."

"Here, don't make fun of my friend," scolded Elize gently.

"Heh heh. Sorry."

"Tommorow's tournament will be more challenging," warned Yurgen. "They used to fight up to the death. It was the only one to determine the ruling clan. Fortunely, things are different now. The current Kind of Auj Oule outlawed that old practice."

_'That's so like Uncle Gaius to put up something like that,' _thought Phi, glad. _'Oh wait. I shouldn't call him Uncle in this time. I'll just refer to him as King Gaius for now.' _

"Sounds like the king's a real prince!" said Teepo, surprised.

"Anyways, the real test will be tommorow. I've gotten rooms for you at the inn. Make sure to get a full night's rest."

**CRASH! **Suddenly, one of the monsters Phi had sent flying came crashing down. Everyone jumped up in surprise at the sudden encounter. "...I'll pay for the damage later," promised Phi as she and the others sweatdropped.

* * *

_At the inn... _

"Ahh! Finally! Soft, warm beds for once!" sighed Leia, jumping onto her own bed. Milla, Leia, Elize, and Phi were sharing a huge girl's room while the boys had their own room. The girl's room was much biger than the boys, so they were lucky.

"Yeah! Sleepover!" cheered Teepo, flying around.

"Interesting. I have never done a sleepover before. Will any of you show me what it is?" asked Milla, curious.

"Of course, Milla! It'll be wonderful!" agreed Leia, standing up.

While Leia, Milla, and Elize were excitedly chatting like any other gossiping girl would on a sleepover, Phi was the only one who didn't join them. Instead, she just sat on her own bed, in deep thought about tommorow.

_'Let's see if I can remember the events about tommorow,' _thought Phi. _'Tommorow, we have to get to the finals, alright. But we take a break. Also, our lunch is packed with poison, and almost everyone who ate it died. I won't have time to track down the Exodus scum who poisoned the food. In the book, it says Alvin takes off somewhere. I'm betting he went to the kitchen, so I'll go with him. Damn it! Why can't I remember anything else? Something important happened the next day, but the Exodus team wasn't after Milla, they were after something else! But what?' _

"Phi?" called Elize, walking towards Phi. "Do you want to join our sleepover?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm too tired," apologized Phi, giving a small smile at the girl. "I'm going to sleep now, okay? I'd also appreciate it if you kept the volume down a little."

"Oh, okay then. Goodnight."

* * *

_The next day... _

Once arriving at the inn's lounge, the others had met up with Yurgen and his companions, full awake. "You look bright-eyed and ready to fight. Good," praised Yurgen. "Today's schedule is packed. Because of the number of participants, the tournament organizers decided to cram all the fights into one day."

"One day? Sounds rough," complained Jude.

"But it'll help us get stronger," told Phi.

"Agreed. This will be a good opportunity," said Milla.

"We'll find out how many fights there'll be once today's matchups are announced," said one of Yurgen's companions. "When you hear the bell tolling, come to the arena at once. That heralds the start of the tournament. We'll be waiting up at the arena."

After Yurgen and his friends left, Alvin said, "Guess we have some time to kill. What do we do?"

"I'm going to the plaza. Something's bother me," announced Milla.

"Oh, I'll come too! I'll get too antsy just standing around here," decided Leia.

"I'll go too," said Phi, worried about Exodus agents being in Xian Du.

"Hmm...maybe I'll tag along, too," suggested Alvin.

"What should I do?" wondered Jude.

Elize and Teepo walked up to Jude. "Hey, Jude! Let's go sightseeing!" said Teepo excitedly.

"I want to look around the city too," said Elize, shyly.

"Oh yeah. You did say this place seemed familiar."

"I shall escort Miss Elize. Will you also accompany me?" asked Rowen.

"Sure, why not."

"Don't forget. Race to the arena when you hear the bell," reminded Alvin.

Once outside of the inn, Milla walked to the area where the rocks had fallen from yesterday and began investigating while Alvin, Leia, and Phi were curiously watching her. "What are you doing?" asked Phi.

"You didn't come here to examine the debris?" Alvin asked Milla.

"It's not important."

"Isla!" called Leia. Everyone turned to see the woman that helped heal Leia walking towards their direction. Phi was really glad Isla was safe, but she couldn't help but wonder if Isla was still part of Exodus.

"You seemed to have healed nicely," said Isla gently.

"Yeah, thanks to you!" Leia noticed Isla staring at Alvin and looked back and forth between them. "Um...you know Alvin?"

"Uh, no."

_'Oh, right. Isla's taking care of Alvin's mother. But in the end, Isla ends up poisoning Alvin's mother to relieve her painful disease,' _thought Phi, looking down sadly. _'...I'm sorry Alvin. I won't be able to save your mother. And, I'm sorry Recon, I won't be able to save your grandmother, I think this is the right way.' _

"It's okay, Doctor Isla," assured Alvin. "The good doctor here is actually taking care of my mother."

"Is that right? She's here in town?" asked Milla.

"Oh, so that's why you have so much local knowledge!" said Leia.

"Her health's not so good," explained Alvin. "My father's gone, and I don't have any brothers or sisters, so the doctor keeps an eye on her while I'm away."

"You just told us more about yourself in one minute than we have since we met," pointed out Milla.

"If you say so. I just...I just want to make her feel better so that I can take her home."

'Where's that? Is it far from here?" asked Leia.

"...Farther than you can imagine."

_'He's obviously from Elympios, not that I already know,' _thought Phi, crossing her arms.

"Well, if there's anything we can do to help, don't hesitate to ask," said Milla kindly.

"...Sure, yeah. If I think of something," agreed Alvin.

"Yurgen? Aren't you supposed to be at the arena?" asked Isla suddenly, causing the other four to turn and see Yurgen heading towards their direction.

"I had to run an errand," replied Yurgen before turning to the four. "I didn't know you were friends with Isla."

"We just met her yesterday. Well, all of us except Alvin," said Phi. "We didn't know you were friends with Isla either."

"We're more than just friends. Isla's my fiancee," said Yurgen.

"Wow, congratulations!" cheered Leia as Phi sighed in relief. Now, Aylen, whose going to be Isla and Yurgen's son in the future will be saved! That was one future child down, jus...eight more to go including herself.

Yurgen chuckled. "Thank you. Isla, these people are our clan's champions in the tournament."

"Oh, marriage! I know what that is!" said Milla suddenly. "May you breed like rats and produce many children that survive childbirth!"

Leia, Phi, and Alvin were shocked to hear Milla say that. Out of all the ridiculous things to say, she had to say that! _'Yeah...not something I expected to hear in this lifetime,' _thought Phi, still shocked.

Phi shook her head and turned to the soon-to-be couple, "W-what she means is that may you have a nice good marriage and live a happy life with children around! Right, _guys?" _

"Y-yeah! Right!" said Leia as Alvin chuckled.

Then, the bell for the tournament started ringing throughout Xian Du. "The tournament's starting," said Yurgen.

"I'm sorry. I'd love to watch, but I have work today," apologized Isla.

"That's too bad. Pray for our victory."

Once at the arena's entrance inside, Jude, Elize, and Rowen were already waiting for them. "Jude, guess what?" called Leia. "Yurgen and Isla know each other! They're actually engaged!"

"You're kidding!" gasped Jude. "When's the big day?"

Yurgen chuckled. "Come on, stop it. It's not for awhile."

"And get this, Isla is taking care of Alvin's mom," informed Leia. "It really is a small world."

"Wait, what's wrong with Alvin's mom?' asked Jude, concerned.

"No need to worry about her, busybody," said Alvin.

"What about you? Learn anything about Elize?" asked Milla.

"A little. She seems to have remember something about her parents," said Jude. "Not enough to give us clues, though."

"Playtime's over. We're just about to get started," announced Yurgen.

At outside of the arena, the party saw a very large audience in the stands, cheering them on. They were relieved that the rules stated it couldn't be a battle to the death, especially Phi. Thanks goodness her uncle wasn't a dicator or a terriorist or something like that. Oops, she has to call him King Gaius for now.

**"They're the only combatants who won't be controlling monsters with beastcraft!" **announced the announcer through the microphone. **"It may be mysterious, but they will be going up against monsters!" **

"Um...did he just say monsters?" asked Leia, sound a bit frightened.

"Don't worry, Leia. We've fought monsters before. This will be a...what do you call it? Oh, a cakewalk," assured Phi.

**"Here comes their opponents!" **Just then, three armored monsters with their leader, a man with a big shield, thick armor, and lance, walked up to the arena as their opponents.

Everyone else unsheathed their weapons and prepared to fight. "Let's do this!" cried out Jude, jumping into the air. "Rowen, Phi! Take care of the shield wielder! Everyone else, give them time by attacking the monsters! Rising Falcon!" Jude dives downwards towards one of the shelled monsters and kicked it at the cent of its shell, but the monster didn't even flinch and shook Jude off. Milla rushed to his side, and together, both concentrated on trying to break through the monster's defenses.

"Leia!" called Alvin, rushing to her side as Leia was fending off against one of the three armored creatures. Leia nodded before leaping up and landing on the opposite side of the creature she was currently fighting.

"Impact Cross!" both shouted, sliding past each other with their weapons as their attacks hit the armored creature's sides. It may have been fast, but there was bery little damage, especially since the monster had armor on.

"Damn! This is going to be tougher than I thought!" grunted Alvin as the armored creature was raming towards him while Alvin was blocking with his sword. Leia was trying to attack the monster, but its hide weas tough, and the monster paid no heed to her.

"Nya! Nya! Come and get me!" taunted Teepo, flying around the third armored monster. The monster tried to swipe him with its tiny claws, but it wouldn't reach Teepo no matter what, especially since he was flying.

While Teepo was distracting the monster, Elize was casting a offensive spirit arte as quickly as she could. "Unleash, claws of darkness! Negative Gate!"

A sphere of darkness and large dark hands appeared beneath the monster Teepo was distracting. Teepo immediantly got out of that mess and flew next to Elize's side while she was concentrating on taking down the monster. So far, Elize was doing the most damage to her opponent while the others was having trouble, and she was the healer of the party. It seems the monster was weak to spirit magic.

Phi and Rowen were currently in the middle of a fight, and their opponent is the shield wielder, and despite him being a shield-user, he can also sometimes predict their attacks and move away or block the attacks.

With a loud cry, the shield wielder jabbed his lance several times at Rowen, who was engaged in close-combat with him. As Phi watched anxiously from a few steps back, Rowen stepped left and right, elegantly dodging the blows. Even on a 2-on-1 situation, both couldn't fight at once when confronted with a skilled, fully-armored enemy since it could mean an hindrance. So, both decided without saying anything that they would occasionally switch and slowly lower the enemy's defenses.

Finally, after a few more jabs, the shield wielder grew tired and his posture fell slightly off-balance. Rowen took this chance and went straight in. The thrusts of the silver, glinting rapier landed one after another, all hitting their marks on the shield-wielder's armor. Each individual hit didn't cause much damage, much less a crack, but its speed was almost equal to Phi's speed, something Phi was amazed at.

After getting hit by three more short jabs, the shield-wielder's guard went slightly up, and Rowen switched his style to slash at the shield-wielder's armored legs. While the shield-wielder was winching in pain, Rowen, with his blade tip shining with the sunlight, send two strong jabs high and low. So, this must mean what they call sword dancing.

"Miss Phi! Go!" shouted Rowen, dodging the opponent's lance.

"Right!" Phi rushed to raise her katana, and at the same time, Rowen performed one last stab. The shield-user deflected the blow with the shield held in his left hand and bright sparks came flying off. Both the enemy and Rowen were left stunned, for a moment. Rowen quickly gotten out of range, and that was all Phi needed.

She charged fiercely at the enemy, but the shield-user tried to stab her with his lance at fast as he could. Phi parried the lance, kicked the shield as hard as she could, which resulted in the shield-user being forced back a bit, and charged again. Phi delivered a strong downward strike to the shield-user's right shoulder, then twisted her wrist and bright it back up again.

Afterwards, the shield-user brought up his shield and blocked the other attacks Phi would deliver. However, the shield-user was all out of juice, while Phi had more. She closed in on the shield-user, letting out a cry as she swung her katana horizontally. The sword cut through the lower part of the shield-user's armor, but luckily, not the stomach part.

Phi's chain attack wasn't quite finished. She followed with a horizontal swing from right to left, slicing through the shield-user's shoulder. In this state, she spun her body in a full circle and slashed at his back, much deeper than any of her previous attacks. The shield-user yelled out of pain.

As soon as he quickly recovered from being stunned briefly, he turned and raised his lance high in the air and slashed down. However, Phi bent down in time and slashed at the shield-user's chest, before her opponent finally fell to the ground, unconscious.

Phi knew now is not the time to be celebrating, and rushed to Rowen, who had seen everything. "Hey! What happened with the rest of the monsters?!"

"Don't worry, the others are almost done," assured Rowen, pointing to where the others were battling. Phi turned to see Alvin stabbing one of the armored monster's skin, defeating it finally. Milla was spinning in the air along with the monster she was fighting before she slashed at its unprotected stomach. Jude and Elize were healing Leia, who had more bruises than anyone else.

**"Wow! What a shocking turn of events! Here comes the next group!" **called the announcer after their opponents were carried away. The next group consisted of three peacock monsters and the ringleader with chained daggers and a crossbow.

"I'll get the ringleader!" announced Phi, charging forth. She pushed off the ground using one palm and somersaulted into the air as the battle started. Alvin and Jude were fighting alongside together, trying to finish off one peacock monster, while Leia and Milla were fighting together and taking care of the second. Also, Rowen was fending off against the third monster while Elize was casting supportive artes to everyone.

The ringleader was nowhere to be found even when Phi was temporarily in the sky and searching for the ringleader. Suddenly, Alvin felt an arrow hit his left shoulder. "Ow!" he groaned, clutching onto it.

"Alvin!" shouted Jude, rushing to his side, but not before dodging an arrow that almost hit his feet. "Where's it coming from?"

"Elize! Watch out!" cried Leia, jumping to Elize's side. She twirled her staff around in a circular motion, almost as if making a shield, and deflected three arrows that appeared out of nowhere. "Whew! That was too close!"

"Thanks, big buddy!" thanked Teepo, grateful.

"Where's the arrows coming from? questioned Rowen, searching around. The only one that wasn't here was the ringleader, but she wasn't in the skies or anywhere in the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the ringleader was standing on top of the stands of the arena, way above the audience, and yet, the audience haven't noticed her. There were no rules stating she COULDN'T be on top of the stands to fight. She laid an arrow on her crossbow, closed one eye, and aimed for Rowen.

"Hey!" The ringleader turned to see Phi on top of the stands with her, only a little bit far away. "You try and shoot another arrow, and it'll be the last one you shoot!"

Jude looked up and saw the confrontation between the two fighters. "Hey, guys! Look up!" called Jude. Everyone turned to see what Jude was saying.

"W-well I'll be," grunted Alvin, holding his guard up against a monster with his sword despite the fact he was still injured. "Looks like Phi's found our ringleader."

"W-why you-!" hissed the ringleader, loading another arrow to her crossbow as Phi placed a hand on her katana. **SWOOSH! **The second the ringleader fired her arrow, Phinimbly dodged it and charged towards her opponent. Soon, most of the crowd found out where the ringleader was due to the sounds of battle, and cheered the two warriors on their fight as they stared up.

The ringleader unsheathed her chained daggers and began striking at Phi as she dodged them. Phi knocked back the ringleader with a few blows that were deflected and turned to her group down below. "Don't worry about me! Concentrate on the monsters you're fighting!"

"Demonic Chaos!" yelled both Jude and Alvin, performing both a Demon Fist and Demon Fang together before finishing off their opponent with a simultaneous shock-wave finisher.

"Flare Tornado!" cried Milla and Leia. Leia started casting fire from her palms and surrounded Milla while she runs and expands it by sending a monster up into the air and slicing it as she spin around, creating an effective twister of flare.

"Healer!" shouted Jude, pressing his palms together to form an energized circle of healing. It not only healed his wounds, but Alvin's wounds since he was close by.

"Thanks, kid," said Alvin before taking out the arrow implanted on his shoulder. He looked up just in time to see the ringleader jump into the air and behind Phi. Before Phi could do anything, the ringleader began strangling Phi with her chains.

**BANG! **The ringleader fell down, clutching her arm in pain. Phi looked down to see Alvin and Jude looking up at her. It seems that Alvin had his gun ready, and that he had fired a shot to save Phi.

Pressing the ringleader's weight against hers, she placed the unconscious ringleader's arm around her shoulder before glancing to see Rowen having a bit of trouble trying to defeat a troublesome peacock monster.

"Eagle Dive!" With powerful force, Phi shot towards the peacock monster's head with her foot before landing safely and dropping the unconscious ringleader.

As soon as the ringleader and her monsters were dragged off, there was the third match, which their opponents were a lance-user and three green bird-like creatures. "I'll...take on the leader..." panted Leia, obviously tired.

"No, you're too tired. I'll take him on," assured Milla, stepping forward. "Let's go!"

Phi was the next to run forward...and also the first to take down one of the bird monsters in this match. "Come on, people! Let's hurry up and defeat these three monsters!" she called, her foot implanted in the bird's wing as the bird monster was lying facedown, buried in the ground, defeated.

"But...you already took one down," pointed out Jude as Alvin and Rowen rushed forward.

"Dark Radiance!" cried Alvin, leaping high in the air and bring his sword down on a bird who was flying in the air. Yet, that wasn't enough to take it down as it started attacking Alvin.

"Marche Waltz!" shouted Rowen, stabbing another bird monster several times. Elize and Leia were busy casting supportive artes, but were occasionally attacked by bird monsters.

Just when a bird monster was about to peck Elize's head, Phi charged in and grabbed the foot before swinging it back and forth and throwing it at the sky as high as she could, making that monster disappear like she did to the other one yesterday.

"Home run!" cheered Alvin, playing around.

"Wind of the mighty, carve through the wicked! Cyclone!" chanted Milla. A tornado swirled and formed around the lance-user, lifting him high and high until it dispersed, knocking him out when he hit the ground.

"Whew! That sure was tiring!" panted Jude, sitting on the ground as Milla was also struggling to stand up. Leia was on the ground, all dizzy as Elize was fanning. Alvin, Rowen, and Phi were the only ones not looking tired.

**"And there you have it, folks! The Kitarl champions have fought their way to the place in the finals!" **

* * *

As the party was walking down the stairs and out of the arena, Leia cheered, "We did it! We won!"

"It nearly went the other way, though," reminded Jude.

"Come on, that was a cinch," said Alvin.

"I beg to differ. Those matches were quite demanding," wheezed Rowen.

"Our little buddy Alvin's a big fat liar, isn't he, Elly?" wondered Teepo.

"Yes. It wasn't easy at all."

"Aw, come on, guys!" complained Alvin, acting a little bit hurt.

Once arriving down the stairs, Yurgen and his friends greeted them. "Nice work out there! Those were some fascinating fights!" said Yurgen.

"The finals begin after lunch," informed one of Yurgen's friends. "All the other entrants will be there too, though, so don't expect cherry company. Anyway, you better grab some food."

_'What was it I was supposed to do? It had something to do about food, but what?' _wondered Phi as she followed the others to the dining room.

At the dining room, the food was prepared and set for everyone in there. Only a few had already started eating. Jude was looking around, trying to determine who their opponents will be. Phi heard Jude and Alvin talking, and then Yurgen, but she paid no heed to them and concentrated on trying to remember something important.

Phi glanced around, and saw one man's expression change into curiosity and then he looked like he was gasping for air as he was trying to grab a glass of water. Phi then realized that poison was in the food, for Milla!

"Wait! Don't touch the food!" yelled Phi loud enough for everyone in the dining room to hear. Everyone was silent and didn't move. When some others tried to ignore her and staretd to eat, she quickly unsheathed her katana and threw it at the nearest wall, making them stop.

"Why?" asked Alvin, who was about to shove a mouthful of it in his mouth. Phi rushed towards him and yanked the spoon off his hand as fast as she could.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Jude.

Just then, one of Yurgen's friends rushed into the dining room and said, "Yurgen, we've got a problem. Turns out that rockfall was no accident. They found signs that someone destroyed the cliff intentionally."

"What?!" exclaimed Milla, standing up. "Nobody move! Whatever happens, don't-"

**CRASH! **Then, a few of the people in the dining room, most likely the ones who ate the food, fell to the ground. Some of the people screamed out of fear as the others ran towards the fallen bodies and tried to shake them.

Jude and Rowen began examining the body of a man's and found some sort of purple odor in his mouth. "Do you detect that faint odor?" asked Rowen. "Yes, I know of this. It's metecinia, a poison dissolved in liquid."

"Are you serious? Why would anyone do this?" asked Jude.

_'Damn! If only I remembered sooner! Well, at least only a few died-no, what am I saying?!' _thought Phi, frustrated with herself. She ran up to Yurgen and asked, "Hey! Where's the kitchen?!"

"The kitchen? It's up in the stairs, then go to the far left of the end, and you'll see some doors that lead to the kitchen. Why are you asking me this?"

"Damn...Look, forget about that!" ordered Phi. "Alvin, you're with me! Let's go!" She ran up to him, grabbed his sleeve, and forced him up.

"R-right!" Both Alvin and Phi took off towards the direction Yurgen told Phi.

"Wait! Alvin! Phi!" called Milla. But either both of them were too far away to hear her, or they were just ignoring her.

Once arriving at the kitchen's entrance, Phi turned to Alvin and ordered, "Alright, Alvin. I'll go ahead first. You just cover me with your gun."

"What if the one who poisoned the food isn't there?" asked Alvin.

"Just leave the 'what ifs' for later! We don't have time for this! Ready? 1...2...3! NOW!" Phi burst opened the doors and saw one man putting on a weird black suit. There was no one around except for him.

"Hey, who are you?" asked Alvin. Phi noticed that the man was hiding something behind his back and grew suspicious.

"Show us what's behind your back," ordered Phi, getting straight to the point. When the man didn't move, Ph and Alvin grew more suspicious. "Is something wrong? Just show it to us!"

"Why do I have to do what you tell me to?" questioned the man rudely. "Besides, you shouldn't be here! This is for cooks only!"

_'With that suit on, I doubt it,' _Phi wanted to say. "Just show us what's behind your back!" ordered Alvin, ready to get his gun out.

"No! You don't get to order me around! I have rights!" As he spoke, the man made a break towards the exit.

"No! Stop!" shouted Phi, rushing towards him with Alvin on her side. Alvin stood in the man's way on time, and Phi tackled the man to the ground, then wrapped her hand around his wrist, slamming it to the floor and causing him to drop something.

Alvin picked it up and read the label of the bottle. "Metec...cinia...Metecinia."

"I knew it!" said Phi, both relieved and angry at the same time. "That means..."

"Let me go! Get off of me, you fuckers!" cursed the man, struggling to break free.

"Wow, swearing in front of a little kid," said Alvin.

"You...you were the one who poisoned and killed those people in the dining room," said Phi.

"No! You don't understand! This is all some kind of...of a mistake!" shouted the man, desperate.

"We've got you, mister! You may as well confess!" grunted Phi, still trying to keep him down. "Alvin! Keep your gun aimed at him just in case he tries to do something!"

"On it!" agreed Alvin, taking out his gun and pointing it at the man while standing up.

"...Urgh...Alright, fine! You caught me! I did it! I killed all those who ate the poisoned food!"

"Why?!" asked Phi.

"I was sent here to...to do something!"

"To do what, exactly?! And who gave you these orders to just poison people?!" asked Phi, getting more and more angry.

"I'll _die _before I tell you."

"So your orders were more important those few, but very precious lives?!" shouted Phi, ready to beat up the man. "And the other competitor's lives?!"

"Whoa, whoa! Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" said the man. "I only poisoned the food that was serving in the dining room where Maxwell was, but that's it! I didn't poison the food where they were serving the other competitors in the other dining rooms!"

"What? Really?"

"Try carefully, Phi. This man's not to be trusted. He's also shown to lie and kill," warned Alvin.

"Hey, come on! I'm telling the truth! You've gotta believe me!"

"Even if we do believe you, you're still a killer," reminded Phi, now calm. "Now, who ordered you to do all of this?"

"That's none of your damn business. I've already completed my mission, so-"

"I don't care about your goddamn mission!" yelled Phi, her patience running out. "You poisoned those innocent people who had nothing to do with this! Now they're...they're..." Out of anger, Phi started twisting one of the man's arms behind his back, making a sickeningly painful sound and even making Alvin winch as if he was the one in pain.

The man screamed, "Fuck! Stop! You're gonna break it!"

"Of course! That's the idea!" told Phi, twisting more and more of the man's arm.

"Uh...Phi?" questioned Alvin cautiously. "What are you-"

"Shut up!" snapped Phi, obviously not in the mood as Alvin held his hands up, meaning no harm.

"Please, stop!" begged the man.

"You still haven't answered my question. What's going on?!" With that said, Phi began pressing more strength, and if she kept this up, she might do more than break his arm. Possibly rip it off.

_'Man, I feel almost sorry for that guy. Well, almost,' _thought Alvin.

"Okay! Okay, I'll tell you! The info's in my coat! My pocket!"

"Alvin, check it out!" ordered Phi.

"Y-yeah!" Alvin bent down and started digging through the man's pockets. After a few minutes, he said, "It's no use! I can't find anything anywhere!"

"Did you lie to me?!" yelled Phi to the man, threatning to continue more of his painful torture.

"No! I swear! Keep looking!"

"Wait, I do feel something," said Alvin, digging further and further into the pockets. He then pulled out some sort of strange pill. "Hey, what is this?"

"Huh? I can't see it. Bring it over here," gasped the man. Alvin frowned and moved closer to the man, holding the pill out towards him. Suddenly, the man moved, and he used his free hand to grab the pill from Alvin. Before anyone could react, he shoved it in his mouth and bit on it.

"Shit! How could I have been so stupid?!" cursed Phi to herself as the man started acting like he was choking, leaving Alvin confused. Phi grabbed him by the hair and shook. "What the hell are you doing?! Hurry up and tell us who you work for!"

"N-never..." coughed out the man. His eyes rolled up into his head, and flecks of spittle began to trickle out of his mouth.

"Don't screw with us!" Phi delivered a punch to the man's face, but it was already too late. The man was dead. "Shit!" Phi got up and slammed her foot against one of the food lockers in the kitchen, her face uncharacteristically twisted by anger and frustration.

"W-what was that he took?" asked Alvin.

"...Poison, I guess," sighed Phi, finally calming down. 'This is bad...what the hell are we going to do?"

"...You think we should, you know, head back?" asked Alvin. "I mean, I was planning not to go, but-"

"What, you worried there might be ghosts back in the dining room?" questioned Phi, almost in a joking tone.

"No, of course not. It's just...doesn't the lives of those innocent people bother you?"

"Nope. I don't believe in ghosts. I mean, I feel bad that they died, of course. But, there's not really anything we can do about that, is there? Just be grateful only a few lives were claimed."

"Damn, you're pretty cold, you know that?" questioned Alvin.

"I perfer bold, but whatever. I just don't let emotions get in the way."

"That's...pretty much the definition of 'cold.'"

"...Whatever. Anyways, you said there was somewhere where you wanted to be, right? Where's that?"

"Well, I wanted to go back to my mom's, but-"

"It's fine. We can discuss some...things there. And then, we can go back and tell the others. We'll leave this man's dead body here. Someone will find out he poisoned himself," said Phi. "Just lead the way. I don't know your mom. Only you do."

'Right," agreed Alvin before he and Phi left.

* * *

Skit: Favorite Pets

"I can't believe they seriously keep monsters as pets," said Alvin. "Auj Oule sure is weird."

"I'd rather have a nice pet, like a dog," said Jude.

"Oh, so you're a dog person? So am I," said Rowen, impressed.

"Same here! They're way funner to be around!" said Leia.

"Oh, come on. Cat beat dog anyday. You dog types are just emotionally needy," said Alvin.

"Nowadays it's the cat types who are needy," argued Rowen. "You put on fake cat ears and cat tails, saying 'meow' every other word. Absolutely ridiculous."

"What are you-who does that?" argued Alvin, surprised. "True cat lovers admire ctas for their independence! What about you, Elize? I bet you're a cat person."

"I always wanted to have a pink rapig," said Elize.

"But I thought you were a Teepo person!" complained Teepo.

"What about you, Milla? What's your favorite kind of animal?" asked Jude.

"You should know by now. It's you humans."

'Humans aren't really animals, Milla," informed Phi.

"Oh? Then, you're a cat person?" asked Alvin.

"No, I'm a dog person. So far, that makes...four votes against one. Looks like dog does beats cat," said Phi. "Besides, dogs are usually the ones chasing away cats."

"She has a point," agreed Rowen.

"Oh, come on!" complained Alvin.

* * *

Skit: Solution

"Hmm..." wondered Milla, examining a wanted poster of her.

"What's that?" asked Phi.

"It's a wanted poster of Milla. It's a long story," said Jude. "Wait, Milla? You tore it down?"

"Of course. Now, we won't have to worry about people chasing us."

"That'll never work. Keep tearing them down, and they'll post a new one right back up," said Alvin.

"I wonder..." Phi walked towards the board where they kept the posters. When she saw no one was looking besides Alvin, Jude, and Milla, she placed her hand forward towards the board and started firing fireballs, surprising her friends and burning down the board. Then, when it was on the ground, she began stomping and jumping up and down on it.

"Did-did you just tear down the entire board?!" exclaimed Jude.

"Yes. I figured that if there's something keeping the posters up, then we just have to burn down the pilllar holding it," said Phi.

"I see. I'll have to use that for next time," said Milla.

"No! Don't even think about it!" screeched Jude.

* * *

Skit: Mystery Chatter

_'Alright, so we're in Xian Du. There are some pretty important things to be done here and there to get to Nachtigal,' _thought Phi as she and Alvin were waiting for the others to return from the item store. _'And just where are the others? Hope they don't screw things up.' _

"So uh..." started Alvin. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Huh? Oh, don't know. You?"

"Well, I'm particularly interested in you. You sure don't act girls your age, like Elize."

"Heh, well you'll have to get used to it. I'm not like one of those helpless damsels in distress that always cry out for their shining knights in armor. Or in this case, Jude's the damsel, and Milla's the knight."

Alvin chuckled. "So you think of Jude in that way, huh? Well-"

"And you say anything about me and Jude in a romance way, I'll see to it that you won't use your arm for a week or so."

"I wasn't going to say that. But you know, the honors student and Milla are kinda like what you just described. So, anything you want to tell me? Any secrets? Come on, I can keep secrets."

"Same thing goes to you," said Phi. "If I tell you a secret, will you tell me a secret?"

"Fair deal. Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Don't know. What do you want to know about me?"

Alvin sighed before ruffling the back of his head. "Yeah, I don't know either. You remind me of a really beautiful girl that I was working with."

"Pedophile."

"Hey! I'm serious! She's an adult, and a beauty at that."

"Yeah, not interested in your love affairs?"

"Have you ever been in love?" asked Alvin.

"Nope. And I don't plan to."

"Why not?"

"I have a...far more important mission that doesn't involve love."

"And that is?"

"You honestly think I'm going to tell you, Alvin? I mean, I trust you completely, but I can't tell you. That's far past my limits. Besides, you haven't been exactly honest with me or the others either."

"Hmm...fair enough."

* * *

**Whew! This is one of the longest chapters I created, but I'm finished!**


	8. Memories

**And this is one of my most favorite, yet angsty chapters yet! So, I'm done talking, and I'll let you all read this, though it might be confusing, but don't expect answers from me since it will be interesting! **

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

"And here we are, home sweet home," said Alvin after he and Phi entered Alvin's house. It was nice and cozy, and there was plenty of room inside. In another small room, laid an old woman, who was sleeping peacefully in a bed.

"Is this your mother?" asked Phi.

"Yeah," said Alvin before turning to the old woman. "Alfred is doing alright at boarding school. He told me to give you a message and that he loves you."

_'Alfred? Who's that?' _wondered Phi, crossing her arms in confusion. "Ah, I see,' said the old woman, sounding relieved. "It's good to hear him. I hope he's making lots of friends in boarding school. I worry for him sometimes."

"He worries about you too," said Alvin. He turned to Phi, who looked very confused on who 'Alfred' was. "Oh, and Alfred? That's..." Alvin pointed himself, and Phi immediantly got the message that Alfred is Alvin's real name.

"Yeah, so don't worry, miss. Alfred's going to be alright," said Phi. "Why don't you get more sleep? Im sure you would want to greet Alfred all healthy and stuff."

"Yes, you're right," agreed Alvin's mother before turning her head to face the wall. Soon, Alvin and Phi could hear soft snoring from Alvin's mother.

Phi wouldn't admit it, but she was jealous of Alvin. After all, he has a loving and kind mother, but she doesn't. Well, it's not that her own real mother, Milla, wasn't rude or abusive towards her, it's just that Phi rarely sees her. The last time she saw her in her time was when she was five, but that was a long time ago.

"...Alvin. We need to talk. Now," said Phi firmly.

"Something up?" asked Alvin.

"..." Phi was trying to find a way to get Alvin to admit he's part of Exodus without suspecting herself. If Alvin does suspect her, it's going to be worse in the future, so she has to choose her words carefully.

"Um...Phi? You there?"

"What's Exodus?" decided Phi, turning to Alvin.

"Exodus? How should I know? And where did that come from?"

"Before that man...before that man disappeared from this world, he whispered something. I couldn't make out all of the words, but I did hear one word. Exodus. That's not a very common word, so I figured you as a mercenary, should know about this," lied Phi.

"Sorry kiddo, don't know anything," said Alvin, placing his hands behind his head.

"Hmm...alright, I give up," said Phi.

"What? You're not going to ask me more about Exodus or something?" joked Alvin.

Phi smiled. She found the small weak point she was trying to find. "Alvin, you just admitted you know about Exodus."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You said clearly, 'What? You're not going to ask me more about Exodus or something?' I said I was giving up. I never expected you to ask if I wanted to know MORE. You do know something, do you Alvin?" questioned Phi.

"...Damn. Me and my big mouth," said Alvin, cursing a bit. "Alright. You got me. I know about Exodus, so what? Just because I heard the name doesn't mean I'm a member of them."

"I didn't say anything about you being a member of Exodus," reminded Phi, wanting to grin.

Alvin mentally facepalmed. He let out a long sigh. "Alright, fine. I'm a member of Exodus. But I only do small jobs for them, nothing more."

"Did you know about the poison?" asked Phi.

"Of course not! I almost ate some of that food, you know. And you and I both confronted the real culprit! So, what are you going to do? Tattle on Milla and the others?"

"No," said Phi, walking past Alvin.

"Wait, what?" Alvin asked, surprised. "Why not?"

"Because, you'll be the one telling them," replied Phi, her back turned to Alvin.

"And what makes you think I'll tell them that?' challenged Alvin.

"Oh, but you will, I assure you," said Phi. "Now, if you don't mind, we should go back to the others. I think we wasted enough time here."

"..." Alvin didn't say anything but nod. He was still confused by what Phi meant, but shrugged it off. It didn't seem anything important, at the very least.

Once outside, both of them were surprised to see Milla at the front door. "Where'd you come from?" asked Alvin, taken aback.

"Is this your house?" asked Milla.

"...Mom's, actually. Look, I'm sorry both of us darted off like that. We were about to head back towards the inn anyways."

Just when Alvin was about to walk past Milla, Milla suddenly pushed him back against the wall using his tie while Phi watched in shock. _'This is so wrong in so many ways! I'd understand if it was with Jude, but Alvin?!' _

"Aren't we frisky today," grunted Alvin, teasing a bit.

"Tell me what you know about Exodus," demanded Milla.

"Exodus? That some kind of new music group?" asked Alvin, trying not to make the same mistake like he did with Phi.

"I heard you talking with Derrick back in Leronde."

"You were faking it? That's cheating, you know.

"You're one to talk," countered Milla, pushing Alvin more up against the wall. "Answer the question. Are you a member of Exodus?"

"Give me a break. I hate those jerks as much as you do. They've blackmailed me into working for them. I want out, but I'm stck."

Milla seems to realized what the reason was for and released Alvin before stepping back. "Because of your mother?"

"You believe me?"

"...Well, to paraphrase Teepo, you are a big fat liar," admitted Milla.

"The spud's got that right. No point in roughing me up for answers," said Alvin, smirking as he crossed his arms. "Because you can't trust anything I say."

Milla turned to Phi and asked, "Did you know about this?"

"I just found out a few minutes ago," replied Phi. "Anyways, we don't have time to talk about this. We have to go back with Jude and the others. They're probably back in the arena entrance."

"Why?" asked Alvin.

"We don't know if any Exodus agents are trailing after Milla right now as we speak. If we stay here any longer, we're screwed. So-" She stopped in midsentence when Milla pulled out her sword and pointed it at her. "W-what are you doing?"

"You're pretty suspicious, too, Phi," said Milla. "You could be an Exodus spy for all we know. Plus, I never trusted you from the very beginning. I sense a strange power inside of you, yet you keep denying it. I don't trust you. Why do you have some kind of spirit power inside of you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" said Phi, agitated.

"You're hiding something," said Alvin, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. "Yeah...you've been suspicious from the get-go. How'd you know the food was poisonous? Or when those people were about to eat the food? You didn't even blink when the people died. Almost as if you knew the food was poisonous and that those people were going to die. Look, I don't want to believe it, but are you...?"

"...Don't be stupid," said Phi. "Why would I poison those guys? Besides, we already found out who the true culprit was. You were there, too. Also, just because I had some sort of spirit power inside of me doesn't make me a spirit, Milla! Plus, I'm not part of Exodus! There was-"

"Tell the truth!" demanded Milla, her sword pressing against Phi's chest, ready to strike her heart if neccessary.

"That _is _the truth! Why am I the only one getting the most third-degree here?! I'd very much appreciate it if you could not treat me like I'm the villain here."

"You don't have any right to say that right now," replied Milla coldly. "If you don't answer me right now, I'll kill you here, right now."

Just then, something caught the corner of Phi's eye and she turned to see something shining at the other side of town, which wasn't that far. Phi saw an archer, and he was targeting Milla.

"Watch out!" yelled Phi, grabbing the blade and pushing Milla backwards. **SWOOSH! THUD! **Phi felt a sharp pain implanted in her back, then craned her head to see an arrow impaled really deep.

Milla and Alvin turned to where the arrow had come from and saw an archer. Alvin got out his gun and shot the archer on plain sight, killing him instantly before the archer had a chance to run away.

"Gh-!" Phi pulled out the arrow and threw it away before falling to her knees, clutching her wounded shoulder.

Milla picked up the arrow and examined the end of it. "It was poisoned," she announced. "I recognized this kind of poison. It's a deadly poison that slowly kills the victim painfully. This is bad."

"Poison?" gasped Phi, panting. She could feel an immense pain pouring throughout her body, and sweat was falling down from her forehead. With a grunt, she pushed herself to stand up. "Alright, stay calm, the both of you. I'll be fine, but we have to go back with Jude and the others. They'll probably-"

**RING! RING! **Suddenly, the bell at the tournament started ringing, signaling the other competitors to fight. "The tournament? If we don't hurry, we'll be disqualified," reminded Milla.

Phi's vision suddenly blurred, and shaking her head did nothing to stop it. She staggered back a bit. Alvin noticed and asked, "Hey, are you alright?" However, what Alvin was saying made no sense to her at the moment. She stumbled back, her hand clutching her forehead before she fell backwards.

Alvin quickly caught her in time and lifted her up in his arms. "Hey! Hey! Stay with us! Phi, say something! Damnit, don't die!"

Phi then grasped Alvin's jacket as tight as she could, struggling to live. "No damn way am I...going to die..." She struggled to keep her eyes open, and all she could see was Alvin and Milla's blurry faces. Everything was going so fast in an instant. First, she was outside, now she was inside a building. She could hear some voices and felt her body being moved a few times as she tried to stay awake.

In reality, both Milla and Alvin rushed to the arena's resting place while carrying Phi, where there was an infirmary there and where Jude and the others were. They quickly explained as fast as they could what had happened, and Yurgen and his friends ran to get a few doctors. "Hurry! There's a treatment room over there!" one of the doctors cried out. Alvin and Jude helped carry Phi and laid her in the bed of the treatment room.

After a few minutes of examining her, one of the doctors said, "Your friend's going to be fine. We're going to inject her with an antidote that'll cure the poison, but it does have one major side effect."

'What's that?" asked Leia.

"It'll...cause her to have nightmares and wake up in a few days. Don't worry, though. Luckily, it's only one side effect."

"I sure hope Phi will be alright," mumbled Jude. Him, along with his friends, were ordered out so that the docots could give her the antidote and fix her wounds,

"Yes, but for the wyverns and for Phi's sake, we have to win," assured Milla. "We can go visit Phi later. For now, we have to go."

Meanwhile, once Phi was left all alone in the treatment room, sweat started dripping from her forehead, and she clutched her blankets tightly, forced to experience the past life she had wanted to forget.

* * *

_Flashback..._

_In Phi's time, or rather, Sophia's time, it showed she was five years old at the time. Ever since she was born, she was given a gift from her mother, Milla. Her gift was the Four Great Spirits, assigned to protect her. Of course, they sometimes can't be with her because Milla summons them on her side sometimes. But most of the time, they keep five-year-old Sophia entertained. _

_Sophia wasn't always cold-hearted, matured, and quiet. Back then, she was cheerfully, and more kind-hearted than she was today. Her father, Jude Mathis, was always at work, and she rarely got to see him. She had a nice babysister who was Jude's friend back in medical school taking care of her. Sophia__ loved the Four Great Spirits. She liked playing games and having races with Sylph, always winning them even though Sylph let her. Gnome was cute to Sophia and she often dressed him in one of the cute dresses she had, much to the Four-or Three Great Spirits delight. Undine was a great tutor on knowledge and let Sophia know things like math and other difficult things in school. That caused Sophia to be one of the smartest students in school. Efreet was a great teacher in training, and helped Sophia control her spirit artes and taught her martial artes from martial artes scrolls, which caused her to be one of the greatest fighters in school._

_Lots of kids befriended Sophia for her kindness and several boys had crushes on her. There was only one person Sophia could call as a best friend, and her name was Mia. She was shy, but she played with Sophia often and came to her house sometimes. Of course, the students at her school know Sophia could control the Four Great Spirits, and they still befriended her._

_But, one day, the Dark Spirits appeared, and they nearly destroyed Fenmont, the city where Sophia was living. Luckily, the people weren't killed, but there was many injured, and people had to put up some barriers to protect the city. Ever since the Dark Spirits arrived, the students were ignoring Phi, often bulling her when the teachers weren't looking. Heck, even the classmates in Sophia's class pushed all their desks to the edge of the classroom, leaving Sophia plenty of space and the only person who's desk was in the middle of the classroom. And this happened every. Single. Day._

_"Shut up, monster!" yelled one of the Sophia's classmates one day. Many classmates of Sophia's were gathered right in front of Sophia outside of the school right after school started. They started calling her a monster, but no matter how many times Sophia tried to deny it, they kept insulting her. _

_"I'm-I'm not a monster!" cried back Sophia._

_"Liar! My dad's leg got eaten by those dark monsters called Dark Spirits! You probably brought all of those Dark Spirits in Fenmont! You have the Four Great Spirits, so that means you attracted them! You injured so many people!" one of the classmates shouted._

_"You're wrong! It wasn't me! I'm human!" _

_"That's gross! Don't even pretend to be a human when you're only-half!"_

_"I am a human!"_

_"Shut up, you monster!"_

_"I am a human!"_

_"Shut up!" Out of anger, one of the classmates pushed Sophia to the ground, causing Sophia to have a scrap on her knee. _

_"I...I'm not..." sobbed Sophia, tears coming out of her eyes. Then, she spotted her best friend, Mia in the crowd, looking terrified. Sophia started crying out of happiness and reaching out her hand towards her. "Mia! Mia!"_

_Then, biting her lower lip, Mia turned away and started walking away, farther and farther from the shocked and broken Phi. Soon, everyone else left Sophia alone, and Sophia just sat on the ground, shocked that her one and only best friend, had betrayed her._

_As soon as everyone left, the Four Great Spirits appeared around Sophia and looked concerned. "Sophia...? Are you alright?" asked Gnome._

_"..I'm fine! Don't worry!" said Sophia cheerfully, letting out a grin as she stood up and wiped the dust off her skirt. "Let's go home! Aunty's waiting back home with delicious snacks! Plus, we can play! I have no homework, so today's going to be fine!"_

_Just before Sophia could move, Gnome asked an innocent, but heart-breaking question. "Sophia, why do you smile when there are tears?"_

* * *

_It's been a few months since the Dark Spirit invasion in Fenmont, and things were not looking good for Sophia Every day's been the same. Go to school. Everyone ignoring you. After school, people start beating you up. Return home. Do homework. Play with the Four Great Spirits and be 'happy.' And then, bedtime._

_Unfortunely, ever since Dark Spirits have appeared, Milla's been needing the Four Great Spirits a lot often, and it took a while for the Four Great Spirits to return to Fenmont where Sophia was. Also, Jude's been sent on investigation missions on the Dark Spirits since he is a famous doctor/scientist, so he's never home. The only one taking care of her is her aunty, her babysister._

_One day, it was the best and worst day of Sophia's life. Her three-year old cousin, Florian, was coming for a visit in Fenmont to see her! That means she'll also see her uncle and aunt for the first time! She was told by her father that her uncle and aunt were king and queen of Auj Oule, so that got Sophia excited._

_However, a few hours after they arrived, instead of Dark Spirits, strange men in black uniforms started invading the city, Fenmont, killing anyone in their way. They seems to be snatching up children for some apparent reason, so Gaius and Muzet, Sophia's uncle and aunt, told Sophia and Florian to hide in Fenmont while they and other soldiers held them off. _

_"This way! This way!" cried Sophia, panting as they went into an alleyway. _

_"Wait...wait..." panted Florian. He and Sophia were running too fast, and he needed to catch his breath. _

_"There's no time!" said Sophia, grabbing his hand. "We have to hurry!"_

_"Hey! I hear voices coming this way!" called a man's voice. Sophia started panicking, but was relieved when she saw a large trash bin nearby. Both she and Florian started climbing up the trash bin, but Florian was too short, so when Sophia got to the top, she grabbed Florian's hand and helped him up. Then, she opened the trash bin and helped Florian down._

_"Sophia! What are you doing?! Hurry!" said Florian._

_"No, if we both hide in here, they'll find us in no time. I'll be the bait, so stay safe, okay? And don't leave the trash until you think it's really safe." requested Sophia before closing the bin. Sophia jumped off the trash bin in time to get spotted by some men in black uniforms._

_"Hey! I spot a kid here!" one of them cried. Sophia started running the other way as fast as her feet could take her. She didn't have the Four Great Spirits to defend herself with, so she was utterly defenceless. It didn't take very long for the strange men to capture her quickly and knock her out._

* * *

_When Sophia awoke, she was in an empty room with only one light one. Surrounding her were a few kids, either asleep or crying. She looked around and saw bars trapping them. It seems they were in a jail cell, but what for?_

_Trying to be brave and putting on a strong face, she shouted, "Hey! What's going on?! Let us out!"_

_Just then, one of the guards entered the jail cell, startling some of the kids in the jail cell. "Brats, wake up! All fo you! If you don't in five minutes, the ones still sleeping will be dead!'_

_After he left, the kids tried to wake up the sleeping kids, desperately trying to save their lives. About five minutes later, the man came back, and every kid was awake except for one boy, who was coughing._

_"Alright, pay attention, maggots, because I'm only going to say this once," announced the guard loudly. "We are the ones who have brought you here to help save the world. We are the new group called Exodus! You all have potential mana lobes, so we are going to use your mana and store it all up in one big machine to get rid of the Dark Spirits! The monsters that are killing your friends and family! You all want that, do you? To get rid of those monsters hurting the people you love?"_

_Immediantly, everyone nodded out of fear. "Good. Every day, we'll be picking you up one by one and testing you. We'll absorb almost all of your mana, then leave you in the jail cell so that you can rest and restore your mana lobes. You will follow every command we give you! And if you refuse..."_

_The man pulled out a gun and shot at the sleeping, coughing boy, putting him to rest. The kids in the jail cell screamed, some saying, "You killed him! How could you?!"_

_**BANG! **The man fired at the ceiling, making the kids to stop wailing. "That will happen if you refuse. Now, we'll start with one of you as part of testing! You, girl! Come with me!"_

_The man motioned Sophia to come, and Sophia, who was now terrified, was forced to follow him. Soon, they arrived in a strange room with a few scientists in there as well. Phi was forced to be chained up a wall, unable to move. She saw that the chains were attached to a strange contraption._

_"W-what are you doing to do with me?!" cried Sophia, struggling to get free. _

_One of the doctors explained, "There's no use trying to get free. We're only going to absorb your mana. Then, we'll put you back in your cell where you can chat with the other kids. It's only hurt a little. Your mana will be absorbed in this machine, which will be stored up for a huge blast to get rid of the Dark Spirits. So, don't worry."_

_Before Sophia could say something, she felt an electrical shock run through her body and screamed in pain. Finally, for what it seems like hours, the pain stopped, and she was left breathless._

_The doctors, however, were shocked. One of them cried, "Normally, when one's mana is absorbed, they're left unconscious! She's still awake! And she still has mana left! But we absorbed a huge amount of mana!"_

_Unfortunely, Sophia's torture wasn't done, and she kept screaming as the doctors absorbed more and more of Sophia's mana. "Stop! STOP PLEASE IT HURTS!" she screamed, tears running down her cheeks. She begged and pleaded and cried for the doctors to stop, along with the other children, but they just ignored them._

_However, her Mommy and Daddy never came to rescue her. In fact, this was indeed the worst day ever, and this was just day one of Sophia's torture._

* * *

_It's been a few months since Sophia and the kids were kidnapped, and many were worse every single day. Their regular schedule was to get absorbed, rest in the jail cell, eat plenty, and sleep. However, it was torture for everyone, especially Sophia. She was the only one who had the highest mana level considering she is a half-spirit._

_Every day, the experiments and absorbing process grew worse and worse for Sophia. She tried her best to be cheerful, but she failed miserable. Whenever she tries to disobey orders, she didn't get killed. No, she got whipped so many times, she had countless scars on her legs and arms._

_One day, Sophia was strapped to a table, terrified on what was going to happen to her. A doctor came up, and explained, "Don't worry. We're going to put a special item inside of you. It's called an Enhancer."_

_"What's that?"_

_"An Enhancer is a special, advanced version of a booster, only it doesn't take a person's life-span away, and it increases a person's mana abilities, depending. So, don't worry about a thing. You are very special."_

_"W-what?!" When the operation had started, Sophia could only scream as the doctors did...grunesome things to her body as they tried to force the Enhancer inside her small body. Sophia only closed her eyes and tried to imagine colorful, pretty things a girl would think. But, when you're strapped to a table, unable to do anything as doctors forced a dangerous small object inside of you, that's not really possible especially since the pain was very harder than the absorbing process._

_Sophia begged and cried for someone, her parents, anyone to save her. She begged and pleaded for this to stop, but her wish wasn't granted and she tried to endure the pain as much as she could. It was like being assaulted at a young age, only the pain was thousands of times worse._

_Finally, when the process was done, Sophia could feel strength inside of her body, which was possibly due to the Enhancer's power. But at the same time, she was broken and felt miserable. Her parents didn't come at probably her most crucial moment of her life. And for that, she resented them for it. _

* * *

When Phi woke up, she was breathing heavily, and felt hot. Her clothes were sticking to her, and she found herself in some sort of treatment room. The sun was shining down on Phi from the window, and Phi remembered exactly what happened.

Last time Phi had awoke, she was confronted by Milla and Alvin, before she got shot by a poisonous arrow. Oh! And the Exodus thugs weren't after Milla, they were after Teepo! How could she forget about that?

Just then, a nurse walked into the room and was surprised to see Phi awake. "Oh! You're awake! That's a relief!"

"What happened to me?" asked Phi, standing up.

"You were shot with a poisnous arrow, but luckily, we found the cure for it and gave it to you. However, that cure had one side effect. It would give you nightmares and you would wake up in a few days," explained the nurse.

_'So that explains the nightmares,' _thought Phi. "Um...how long was I asleep?"

'For two days. Your friends told me to give you this. Excuse me," apologized the nurse, giving Phi a letter before running out the door. Phi opened the letter and read it through:

_"Dear Phi,_

_If you read this letter, then you're probably safe and cured from that nasty poison. Milla told me to give you her thanks for saving her. Anyways, we're sorry, but we decided to leave you behind. Milla says it was too dangerous for you, and we don't want you to risk your life for us anymore. Sorry. Also, something bad happened at the tournament. _

_You see, the Exodus agents weren't after Milla. Turns out, they were after Teepo instead. We chased the Exodus agents towards the Royal Hunting Grounds and discovered a secret base there in Labari Hollow. Teepo is a stuffed toy designed to move around and talk for Elize, but there's more than that. Teepo's a third-generation booster that can voice Elize's thoughts. That's the only reason why Teepo can move around and talk._

_Also, please don't tell Yurgen about this. In fact, just burn up this letter when you're done reading it. Anyways, Isla made a contract with Exodus long before, and kidnapped Elize when she was just a child. A few days ago, she was forced into a contract with Exodus, who threatned to tell Yurgen about her past. But, at least, please don't hate her. She might not be able to atone for her sins, but still._

_Anyways, we're really sorry for leaving you behind. Thank you for helping me and the others escape back in Fort Gandala. Thank you for helping retrieve the spirit fossil for Milla. Thank you for saving Milla. And, thank you for all those times you've spent for us. And, we're sorry._

_From, Jude and the others. _

The first time Phi wanted to do when she saw Jude next time was to punch him in the face. Scratch that, she wanted to kick him where the sun don't shine! They're thanking her for letting them abandon her?! What the hell! This is just like the time where her real parents abandoned her! And this is just repeating the process! No,she had to calm down, or else she'll cause a butterfly effect that'll affect the future.

Phi remembered exactly where Jude and the others were going. They were heading towards Kanbalar to warn the king that starting a war is a bad idea. Right now, she doesn't know if they're already doing it right now, or not. Wait, now that she thought about it, it's a bad idea to not forgive Jude, because it'll be disobeying their trust. So, as painful as it can be, she HAS to forgive them, whether she likes it or not.

* * *

**Whew! I'm done! So, please read and review!**


	9. Trust

**Yup another chapter for this week! Sorry, couldn't help it! Anyways, here goes!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia! **

* * *

_'Doesn't look like anyone's around here. I should hurry up and proceed with the plan!' _thought Phi, who was riding through the Royal Hunting Grounds to Labari Hollows while riding a horse she rented. It's been a few days since she left Xian Du, for a reason, though. Ever since she woke up, she got ready to leave, and talked with Yurgen's friends for a while. They explained to her everything what had happened, how Milla and the others won, where Elize and Alvin had been in the Royal Hunting Grounds where there was a secret laboratory, and other things. Phi never asked where her group went, for it might cause suspicion, so she rented the fastest horse they've got for a week, which cost half her money, but it was worth it for going to Labari Hollows.

Phi was fully determined to go through with this crazy plan of hers, which was to blow up the laboratory in Labari Hollow. She secretly disguised herself using a cloak, met some drug dealers, much to her dislike, and made a deal with them, and as a result, she handed what they wanted in exchange for four atomic, tiny bombs. The reason why she was planning on destroying the laboratory was because she knew this was the same lab where Elize and other kidnapped children were taken to be forced to have boosters, and in the future, this was also going to be another lab where other children were going to have Enhancers forced inside them, and have their mana absorbed. Determined to end the evil, Phi raced against time to destroy the laboratory.

When she finally arrived, she instantly knew it was deserted, and there was no one here. But just to be sure, she tied her horse's reins to a nearby tree and started running to any entrances to open them and explore inside, to see if anyone was there. If the entrances were blocked or locked, Phi would destroy them with spirit artes, seeing how they're going to be destroyed anyways. After a couple of hours, she finally concluded that there was no one remaining in Labari Hollow. She then placed the atomic bombs at each separate location in the laboratories one by one. Afterwards, she ran back to her horse, untied the reins, and traveled back to Xian Du in a matter of hours.

By the time she came back to the horse station where she rented the horse, it was nighttime, about 9:00 in the evening. She found Isla and Yurgen talking to each other before kissing each other passionately. Phi made somewhat a disgusted look on her face and waited until they broke apart. "Uh...guys?"

Both fiances turned to Phi, surprised and embarrassed. "Oh! Did you see what happened?" asked Isla, her face red.

"To be honest, yeah. But I've seen other adults kiss before, so no biggie," assured Phi, jumping down from her horse before handing the reins to Yurgen. As soon as she did, she hid a remote behind her back. If she pressed the one, single button on that remote, then the atomic bombs she planted in Labari Hollows would immediantly activate, destroying the area. "So, how are you two today?"

"We're good, thanks," said Yurgen. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Thanks," spoke Phi before pressing the button. **BOOM! **A loud explosion was heard throughout Xian Du, and the ground rumbled a bit. Some people nearby screamed while the others, including Phi who was pretending, was wondering what had happened. Everyone saw smoke coming from a very far distance, and those that were really skilled in spirit artes rushed there, thinking there might have been a forest fire.

"Phi, maybe you should leave. This is getting dangerous," said Yurgen.

"What about you and Isla?"

"We'll go back home. It's rare for the Royal Hunting Grounds to be ablaze in fire, so well let the professionals handle it. You should go back home, too. Come on, Isla." As soon as they left, when no one was looking, Phi smashed her remote in pieces before throwing them away and heading towards her inn room. She couldn't press the button back at the laboratory because one, she would be caught in the blast, and two, she would be casted suspicious if she stayed there any longer. Now, all she could do is wait for Jude and the others to return to Xian Du and forgive them.

Truth be told, Phi didn't want to forgive the others, but she had to in order to keep history safe. More importantly, Phi has to keep trusting Alvin, who was going to betray the team anyways, no matter what, even if she didn't like it. If she didn't trust Alvin, and he got killed in an accident, Recon would never be born, and Phi made it her mission to see that her friends' parents survive.

* * *

_A few days later... _

After the whole explosion incident, the invesitgators declared that Labari Hollow was mostly destroyed due to some bombs. Nobody but Phi knew where the bombs had come from or who planted them, so they were still interrogating people. Soon, the news of Labari Hollows being destroyed spreaded to the newspapers.

Phi was walking down the sidewalk, feeling rather bored when she spotted Jude and his friends at the entrance. She was relieved to see them all fine, but where was Alvin? Oh yeah, he sold them out and betrayed them. Still, Phi walked towards them, demanding for answers for why they ditched her.

"Hey, Jude? Look up," said Leia as she and her friends entered Xian Du. Jude did exactly as he was told, and his face grew a little pale when he saw an angry-looking Phi walking towards them. Yup, there was some explaining to do.

"What. Happened?" demanded Phi, her tone a little threatning, but more angry. Everyone glanced at each other, worried and wondering who should explain.

Jude stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry, Phi. But it was...neccessary."

"It better had been. Talk."

Milla stood in front of Jude. "Jude and the others had nothing to do with this. I volunteered to leave you behind."

"Alright then, Milla. Why'd YOU do it?"

"A few people died from poison," explained Milla. "I've got no reason not to suspect you as an Exodus agent. Especially since you are a spirit."

"Howw many times do I have to say it? I'm not a spirit. Even if I have an unusual amount of mana inside of me. And I'm know I'm not an Exodus agent."

"And you know I demand an explanation if you refuse to speak," said Milla, taking her sword out and pointing to Phi, shocking everyone else.

"This interrogation part again? Please, do a different way," said Phi, not even fazed.

"Answer me. Are you a spirit? And are you an Exodus agent?"

"No, and no. Alvin and I already caught the guy who poisoned the food. Besides, you got proof I'm an spirit, or an Exodus agent?"

"I will admit I have neither evidence, but you're just as suspicious as Alvin. Before I arrived at his mother's home. Both of you stepped outside at the same time. It seems to me that you two were conspiring together."

"It's true that both of us went to his mom's house after we interrogated the guy who poisoned the food. But we didn't conspire or anything like that. Heck, I even confronted him about Exodus and found out that he was one of them! And that was before you came in. That's how I know he was a member."

"Alright, but why did you go there instead of returning to the inn?" asked Milla.

"Hey, I was just following Alvin. If you want to know why, ask Alvin. Speaking of which, where is he?"

'Well..." After Jude explained the whole thing to Phi, everything went according to the stories. Once they arrived in Kanbalar, they got an audience with Gaius and met the Four Chimeraid. Milla tried to get Gaius to give up the idea of using the Lance of Kresnik or starting a war, but Gaius was too stubborn, then unexpectedly asked Alvin where the key to the Lance of Kresnik was. Alvin turned his back on his previous allies and told him. Just then, Presa, one of the Four Chimeraid, told Gaius that the Rashugal army was attacking Hamil, and Gaius declared they were going to war. They managed to escape the palace, but had to fight off Wingul and Presa to escape Kanbalar.

"..." Phi didn't say anything, for she knew this would happen.

'Look, we're sorry we left you here," apologized Jude.

"Sure, no problem," assured Phi. "The only person I'm blaming is Milla, that's all. Oh, and before you say something Milla, I'll say it over and over again. I'm not a spirit or an Exodus agent. That's all."

Jude sighed. He stepped between Phi and Milla and gently put Milla's sword down. 'Alright, you two. Hold on. This is getting stupid. Milla, I trust Phi, but I trust you, too. If we don't start trusting, we won't be able to cooperate with each other."

"..." Milla sheathed her sword and turned around. "My apologies, Jude. But I need to think of something for a bit. I would appreciate it if you left me alone for a little bit."

"Milla..."

"Well, in that case," started Phi, turning around.

"You too, Phi?" wondered Leia.

"Yeah, sorry." Both Milla and Phi walked off somewhere, leaving Jude, Elize, Rowen, and Leia alone. Phi wandered off in a random direction, wondering where to go just when she bumped into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" apologized a young woman.

"No, I'm sorry," said Phi. She looked up, and immediantly recognized this woman. It was Karla, her other aunt! Well, rather, the young Karla. She didn't have Alicia yet, who was Phi's cousin and Karla's own daughter.

"Oh? Pardon me for asking, but where are your parents?' asked the young woman. "And my name's Karla Outway."

"I don't have any parents. I'm a traveler," replied Phi. "My name's Phi. It's nice to meet you."

"A traveler at such a young age? You remind me of a girl named Elize. She's probably the same age as you."

"Elize? Then you know Jude as well? He's my friend."

"Yes, and I met the two of them. I was teaching Elize and giving her a short quiz question."

"Ah, so you're a teacher?" asked Phi, pretending not to know.

"Correct. If you want, I could ask you a quiz question like I did to your friend, Elize."

"Sure, I'll bite."

"Okay, what is the Battle of Fezebel?"

Phi thought about it for a moment before coming up with an answer. "It's a battle fought between Auj Oule and Rashugal on the Fezebel Outback 48-er, 20 years ago. The battle ended after a giant tsunami, which caused dramatic changes to the region's spirit climes."

"Right! Good answer! Oh wait, haven't I seen you before?"

Phi almost panicked. She hasn't done anything to disrupt time-well, not in a bad way, but this is the first she's met Karla in this time! "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah! You were with that group that doesn't use beastcraft back in the tournament!" said Karla, snapping her fingers like she figured it out.

Phi sighed in relief. "You're right about that."

"Well, congratulations on winning the whole tournament! Well, I have to go back to my hometown now. Bye!"

After watching Karla leave, Phi was a bit relieved that she was able to see her aunt again. In her time, Karla was still alive, but ever since she and her friends left the time portal, she has no idea what her aunt's status is. After all, she could be dead in the future. But, in order to prevent many people's deaths, she and her friends have to prevent the future's demise.

_'Okay, I have to find Alvin. I need to talk to him about something. He has to be somewhere in Xian Du,' _thought Phi. _'Now where could he-Oh! His mother's home!' _

Very quickly, Phi rushed to the direction of Alvin's mother's house as fast as she could, hoping that Alvin could be there. Once she was there, she arrived just in time to see Alvin close the front door and enter outside.

"Whoa! What's with you?" asked Alvin, surprised to see Phi running towards him.

Phi took a deep breath before letting it out. "Oh, hey Alvin. Nice to see you again," she said calmly, as if nothing happened.

"Um...okay? Anyways, it's good to see you up and running from that poison. Woke up today, huh?"

"Don't play coy, Alvin. I was awake days ago," revealed Phi. "Besides, I heard what happened. Jude and the others told me."

Alvin scratched his head sheepishly. "Yup, something they'd do. So, what are you going to do now? And why are you here?"

"I came so I can find you."

"Really? And do what?"

"I thought it would be a good idea to find you here and talk to you. Alone."

"Oh? Talk about what? I've already betrayed you guys, so everything I might say could be a lie. You'd have to be an idiot to trust someone who just betrayed you."

"Really? Then I guess I am an idiot, even now," said Phi.

"...What? Are you saying...you trust me?"

"Yes."

That caused Alvin's eyesbrow to rose up in surprise. "Even though I just betrayed you in selling information to Gaius?"

"Yes."

"Damn, are you serious? Okay, why do you trust me?"

"I just do, alright? Besides, I kinda had to defend you while I was being interrogated by Milla about being a spirit and Exodus agent, which I'm not. You have no idea how stubborn she was, and the fact that she abandoned me in this place. You're lucky that they didn't mention much about you."

"...Yeah, good point," Alvin had to agree. "So, you really trust me that much you'd hide me from the others."

"Exactly," said Phi. "You owe me one for covering you all this time, so you can repay me by not betraying us again, even in a desperate situation where our opponents might win."

"Oh, really? You don't know if I'll betray you again," said Alvin, crossing his arms.

"I can guarantee that you won't."

"How?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"You do realize that I can be plotting to kill you behind your back anytime I want, right?"

"...I still trust you," was all Phi said before turning around.

"That's it? You're not even mad or anything?" asked Alvin.

"I told you, I trust you. I'm not mad, but I'm not happy either."

As Phi was walking away, Alvin got out his gun and aimed it towards Phi's back. "..." Then, he put it away and muttered while walking behind her, "Damn, how can you trust a guy like me anyways?"

* * *

Skit: Team Killer

"..."

"Hey, what's with the troubled look?" asked Alvin.

"Well, this may have not been the time, but a few days ago, when we were fighting that huge rock monster, I had trouble with it, and you could have easily destroyed it with your strength!" said Phi. "So, why?"

"Oh, that," sighed Alvin, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, I didn't feel like it."

"...What?"

"Yeah, I thought you might be able to handle it. But we're cool, right? No hard feelings? If you wanted help, you should have asked!"

"Well, thanks for the advice!" said Phi sarcastically with venom in her tone. "I'll be sure to call you next time I'm in trouble, fighting a hard cored monster, and you're just standing there _watching_!" To prove her point, Phi punched Alvin in the arm.

"Ouch! No need to be so hard on me!" said Alvin, pretending to sound hurt when his arm was really hurting. "No, seriously, you didn't have to hit so hard!"

"Too bad!"

* * *

Skit: Secrets Kept

"By the way, Phi. Have I ever mention how cute you are?"

Just hearing Alvin say that to her made her blush and shocked. "W-what?! Where did that come from?! Wait, are you tryng to flirt with me?"

"No, no. Just listen. So, about a few weeks ago, I caught you sleeping, on Jude's lap, and he was cradling your head so softly," teased Alvin. "You must have been so tired, because you fell asleep right away! And, the kid even covered your small body with a blanket. If anything, he'd made a great father figure to you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" said Phi, turning around, her face red.

Alvin grinned. Just one more push would do it. "Also, when you fell asleep, he pecked you on the forehead for a goodnight ki-"

Immediantly, Phi grabbed the front of Alvin's scarf and pulled him towards her. "That. Didn't. Happen."

Alvin only grinned wider and he rolled his eyes. "Suuure."

"Nothing! You didn't see anything! Say it!"

"I didn't see anything."

"Good." After Phi left, she didn't even notice Alvin snickering to himself and the fact that he had his fingers crossed behind his back.

* * *

Skit: Sympathy

"Here, Phi. Take this as a gift from me to you," offered Alvin, giving her a small vial of perfume. "I bought this in Kanbalar. Strawberry-flavored."

"Why? I don't need perfume," said Phi, taking it. "Why do I need it anyways?"

"For your body of course! Girls need to smell good, you know! For beauty and stuff like that! And you smell...nothing. Only soap though."

'So? If I smell dirty, the monsters won't know I'm there, and think I'm just a part of nature. With perfume, that smell will give me away. But, since you went through all this trouble, I guess I'll spray it."

As Phi was spraying herself, Alvin thought carefully about her. She was so much like him. There were differences, of course, but she was like him when he was a kid, cold-hearted, not willing to hesitate to kill, and never having fun. He couldn't let that same thing happen to just a small little girl like her. "Phi-"

"*cough* *cough* *cough*" coughed Phi. "Okay, that was bad."

"What happened?"

"I...tried to taste it by spraying it in my mouth."

Alvin chuckled. "You're not supposed to do that. But at least you smell nice."

"I swear, if you try to think of any perverted thoughts, I'm going to drop kick you into next week."

"Now don't harm me because of that!'

* * *

**Okay! I'm done here! Please read and review!**


	10. Wyverns

**Whew! I just love Tales of Xillia! It's my new Tales series game, though I don't have the game. Anyways, here's the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

"How is your audience with the king?" asked Yurgen. Jude, Milla, Leia, Rowen, and Elize had finally found Yurgen talking with some people, and quickly decided not to mention anything of what really happened back at the palace.

"...I'm sorry, we'll have to talk later," apologized Milla, getting right to the point. "Can we depart right away?"

"Well, I guess that's possible. You in some kind of hurry?"

"Yeah!" cried Teepo. "The king's men are hot on our-"

Quickly, Jude covered Teepo's mouth, making him unable to speak any longer and making Yurgen puzzled. "No need to rush off," spoke a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Alvin accompanied with Phi.

"Alvin?!" exclaimed Jude, shocked to see the traitor that betrayed them back in Kanbalar.

"They're on a wild goose chase in the mountains right about now," explained Alvin.

"You threw them off our scent? Is this some kind of peace offering?" questioned Milla, suspiciously.

"What? It's only natural I helped you. We're friends, aren't we?"

_'Well, not yet, exactly,' _thought Phi. "Don't worry. He won't betray us again," assured Phi. Still, everyone was quiet and didn't answer.

"Come on, you don't believe me?" Alvin half-whined as he placed an arm around Jude's shoulders. "I know you've put your trust in me before. Would it kill you to give me another shot?"

"I guess not," said Jude, thinking about it.

"Attaboy."

"Welcome back. I'm glad that you're safe," said Elize, still mad at Alvin.

Alvin chuckled. "Thanks. You almost sound sincere."

"If nothing else, it seems that Alvin has brought us some time," reminded Rowen.

"I'd ask what's going on, but I don't think I want to know," interrupted Yurgen, looking concerned. "You people sure have a lot of drama in your lives. I'll be in front of the wyverns. Come see me when you're ready to fly."

After Yurgen left, Jude asked Phi, "By the way, when did you meet up with Alvin?"

"I met him while on my walk. I saw him coming out from his mother's home, so I went there to talk to him," said Phi. "Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that Alvin's not going to betray you."

"Seems pointless to say something like that," said Milla. "I mean, words are cheap. Anyone can promise anything they want, but you must have considered that Alvin might betray us again."

"But that's why I'm telling you right now that Alvin won't betray us," said Phi.

"Are you seriously saying you trust that jerk?" asked Leia.

"Yes."

"Even though he betrayed us?"

"Yes."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you nuts?! What happens if he betrays us again?!" exclaimed Teepo.

"I'm not worried," said Phi calmly. "Alvin won't betray us."

"How can you know that?"

"I just know."

"You 'just know?' What's the matter with you?!"

"Alright, but let's ask one more thing," said Rowen, stepping up to the conversation. "Let's say that we do believe you, Phi, and that we still trust Alvin, in a way. But how do _you_ know that Alvin's not going to betray us and leave us in the lurch?"

"I can guarantee it."

"How?"

"I can give you my word. Alvin will not betray us so long as I'm here to protect you all. I swear it," swore Phi. "And when I keep a promise, especially a swear, I always keep it."

"Damn, if you say something like that, then there is no way I can betray you now, is there. So that's what you meant when you said you'd guarantee it," mumbled Alvin, impressed. "And if I do betray you again, it'll just leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Exactly. I'm saying this so that you don't regret your actions."

"Wait, hold on," said Jude. "We may be able to trust you, Phi, but Alvin's a different story."

"Still having doubts about me, huh?" sighed Alvin, "Fine, fine. Remember the first time the three of us went to Nia Khera, and I went by myself? Well, I was off meeting with Wingul."

"So you had a secret arrangement with them?" asked Rowen. "To hand Milla over if she becomes a problem?"

"How could you? Stabbing Milla and Jude in the back like that?" scolded Leia, angrily.

"Hold it! Yeah, I was working a few different angles back then, but this time, I was using that to our advantage. You know, the only reason we were given permission to use the wyverns is because I arranged that with them ahead of time. If I haven't pretended to betrayed you in front of Gaius, they would have never let you ride the wyverns. That's why I lied and told them you ran the opposite direction of Xian Du."

"I want to believe you, but I can't. Not yet," said Jude.

"That reminds me. That Presa woman we met at the Kijara Seafalls. It seems like you already knew her," questioned Milla.

"What do you want to know?" asked Alvin.

"Who is she, really?" asked Jude, fed up with the secrets. "Phi may be able to trust you, but how can we trust you, if you keep hiding information from us?!"

"Hey, alright, calm down. There's no need to get snappy."

"Do you even know what you're putting us through?"

Alvin sighed in defeat. "I met her when I was working for Rashugal's intelligence service. At the time, she was an Auj Oule secret agent working undercover in Fenmont. After that, we became more...personally involved. You probably don't want to know the specifics."

_'More personally involved, huh? Please tell me that Alvin's just kidding about him having some sort of crush on Presa, because I'm trying too hard to hook him up with Leia. Although, I haven't made any progress,' _thought Phi, annoyed. _'Not that I'm even trying anyways.'_

"Okay, I believe you, but I still don't trust you," admitted Jude.

"Heh, you're so cute when you're upset."

"Stop that. I'm still mad at you!"

"Alvin, can I ask you one last thing?" asked Milla. "Tell us why you're helping us. What's in it for you?"

"You're asking that now? Because I love the hell out of you guys, of course!"

Everyone but Milla sweatdropped and had annoyed looks on their faces. There might as well be a cricket cricketing in the background. "More lies!" accused Teepo.

"How could you say that? I'm hurt!"

"Whatever, let's just go get our wyverns before any Exodus agents get in our way again," suggested Phi. "And believe me, I do not want to get shot in the back by an arrow again. More specifically, the second time and especially if it's a poisoned one."

After finally meeting Yurgen near the cages where they kept the wyverns, Yurgen was giving instructions on how to ride a wyvern. "...And then, you have to hold on the reins very tightly, because sometimes, wyverns look to loop around in the skies, causing many people to fall off. And only two people at a time can ride a wyvern."

"Who should we pair up who?" wondered Jude. "If it doesn't bother you, Milla, will you pair up with me?"

"Sure."

"Oh! Then I'll pair up with Rowen!" said Leia.

"I guess that just leaves me and Elize then," said Alvin.

"Hey! Don't forget me too!" shouted Teepo.

"Wait! What about me?" asked Phi.

"Well since there are two children here, you and that girl over there, I guess you can pair up with that man called...Alvin, was it?" said Yurgen. "Here, I'll free the wyverns, give me a minute." Once Yurgen freed the wyverns, there was three in total. "This one is called Spike, and he's a fierce and energetic wyvern. Who'll take him?"

"We'll take him," said Milla, taking the reins of Spike from Yurgen.

Yurgen pulled on the reins of another wyverns that was quiet. "This one's called Vigilance, and she's a quiet and firm wyvern."

"Interesting. Perhaps this one will suit my style," said Rowen, taking Vigilance.

"Where's ours?" asked Teepo impatiently.

"Well, here he is," said Yurgen, looking a bit nervous as he pulled on the last wyvern's reins. The wyverns was stubborn and tried to pull back the reins, but unfortunely, Yurgen being an wyvern expert, won the battle. "You see, his name's Firebolt. He's the fastest wyvern and the most fastest creature in Xian Du. Although, he's stubborn, persistent, and easily hot-tempered. Not many people use him."

"Perhaps we should have taken that one," said Milla.

"Hmm...We'll take it!" decided Phi, swiping the reins from the wyvern.

"Ooh, betting on the dark horse, eh? Or, in this case, the dark wyvern," chuckled Alvin, impressed.

"Well, we seemed to be ready," said Milla as she and Jude started climbing on top of the wyvern they chose. Everyone else started to ride on their wyverns, but it took a while for them to because of Firebolt who kept trying to run off.

Phi thought, _'Wait, that reminds me. Didn't Aylen have a wyvern named Firebolt?'_

* * *

_Flashback... _

_"And I like to introduce Firebolt!" announced ten-year-old Aylen, bringing a wyvern with the reins. Phi had visited Xian Du just to learn more strategies on defeating a force of Dark Spirits while riding on a wyvern. At least there wasn't any flying Dark Spirits, for now._

_"Aylen, is that a wyvern?" asked 8-year old Phi, who was with ten-year-old Recon. _

_"Yup! One of the last of his kind! Don't worry! He's grown calm throughout the years!" assured Aylen. Then, Firebolt huffed at him and kicked him. "Ow! Okay, well, a little calm. His favorite food is insects, ferrets, birds, and fish. And he might come in useful for battles someday. That's why we're training him now. So, hop on, Phi!"_

_"Me? Why not Recon?"_

_"I've already done training sessions with Firebolt," said Recon. "And, I don't think he likes me. He's been trying to kill me in so many ways, like dunking me in water, or purposely doing loops just to make me fall off!"_

_"What did you do?"_

_"I shot an apple that was sitting on top of his head for target practice."_

_"Then of course he won't like you! Ugh, forget it! Let's go, Aylen!" said Phi. With a bit of help from both Recon and Aylen, they helped her climb up the wyvern. Next, Aylen sat behind her and tightened his grip around Phi's wrist._

_"Okay, first you need to whip the reins as hard as you can, and then Firebolt will take off!" explained Aylen. "Hey, try it!"_

_Nodding her head, Phi whipped the reins as hard as she could, and Firebolt screeched in pain. Like a horse, he trotted towards the edge of the cliff in Xian Du and took off, flying through the skies._

_"Hold on tight! Firebolt doesn't like being patient!" called Aylen. _

_"You really need to work on your timing!" yelled Phi, gripping the reins tightly as Firebolt looped around and around, almost sending both Sophia and Aylen flying towards the ground._

_Just then, Firebolt started soaring down towards the deep dark depths of Xian Du, and Sophia cried out, "How do you make him fly back up?!"_

_"Pull the reins! Pull! Pull!" _

_Nodding, Phi pulled as hard as she could, and Firebolt flew back up, towards the blue sky. Aylen and Phi spatted out water and air from the clouds they flew through and realized they were really high in the sky._

_"Whoa...it's been a long time since I've seen a wonderful view like this," spoke Aylen, amazed. "I think that's enough for today."_

_"Great, so how do you get him down?" asked Phi. _

_"Oh, I don't know. He usually goes down when he wants to."_

_"Aylen! Okay, what about your father?"_

_"Yeah...he doesn't know I'm using one of the wyverns, much less Firebolt."_

_"AYLEN!"_

* * *

_End of flashback... _

_'And then Aylen was grounded for two weeks,' _thought Phi, finally remembering her first experience riding a wyvern. "Hey, hold these for me!" Phi gave the reins back to Yurgen before running towards Alvin and Elize, who were already on their wyvern. "Alvin! Let me borrow your gun!"

"Why? Get your own."

_'Selfish jerk! First, he betrayed everyone, and now he's fussing over his gun? What a picky, drama queen!' _thought Phi, annoyed. "Fine then! I'll be right back!"

Running down the streets, she glanced around, hoping to find some food for her stubborn wyvern she had to ride. Just then, she heard some man call out, "Roasted birds! Get your delicious roasted birds here! They taste like chicken! Only 50 money each!"

"I'll take 20!" declared Phi, handing some money to the man that was selling roasted birds. "And put it in a bag!" After receiving a bag of roasted birds on a stick, she hurried back to where the others were.

"Where were you?" asked Jude. "And what's in that bag?"

Jude's question was answered when Phi took out a stick of roasted birds and held it over Firebolt's nose, the delicious scent making the wyvern's mouth dripping with saliva. "You want the dead birds, huh? Go get the dead birds!" taunted Phi, throwing the stick of roasted birds to the air a little. Immediantly, Firebolt gobbled up the roasted birds, spitting out the stick.

"Wait, is that bag filled with dead birds?" asked Leia.

"I had no choice, I thought he might like dead birds. I read that wyverns like dead birds," replied Phi, getting out another stick and feeding the happy and hungry Firebolt. Eventually, Vigilance and Spike wanted some too, so it was like a petting zoo for feeding wyverns now.

"Hey, can I have one?" asked Alvin, feeling a little hungry.

"Why? Get your own."

_'Ouch! Was that payback for what I said eariler?' _thought Alvin. As Phi was feeding Firebolt his third dead bird stick, everyone watched as she carefully tried to get on top of Firebolt. Once Firebolt realized that Phi was on his back, he screeched and tried to shake Phi off, but Phi hung onto the reins as tightly as she could.

"Hey! Knock it off!" shouted Phi. With one hand, she fished out another dead bird on a stick before feeding it to Firebolt, who calmed down while eating it. Then, the second he finished eating the dead bird, Alvin and Elize climbed in as fast as they could too, and Alvin tightened his grip on both Elize and Phi so that the two girls don't fall off. Phi felt the reins slip from her grasp as Alvin held onto them. "Hey, I'll control the wyvern."

"No," said Alvin.

"I know how!"

"No." With that said, Alvin whipped the reins as hard as he could.

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't do-" Yurgen was a bit too late, because when Alvin whipped the reins, Firebolt trotted towards the edge before opening up his wings and flapping away.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jude. Milla did the same exact thing Alvin did, and in one second, she and Jude were soaring in the skies, like Phi and her team was. The others did the same, only their riding was a bit more steadier.

_'Damn! Firebolt is more wild in the past!' _thought Phi, gripping onto the reins tightly. Everyone else seems to be hanging on for dear life as well, but Phi's wyvern was the most deadly, yet fastest of them all.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Jude, wrapping his arms tightly around Milla's waist. The wyvern he was riding, Spike, really did live up to his name, or rather, his personality. Even though Phi's wyvern was in the lead, Spike was second, and looked really determined to beat Firebolt as if they were having a race.

"AAAAHHH! STOP THIS WYVERN! I WANNA GET OFF!" cried Leia, clutching onto Rowen as if she was squeezing him to death. Rowen was grunting as he tried to balance his wyvern, Vigilance, only it seems to be failing.

"This is quite difficult-!" panted Rowen, his knuckles turning white as he clutched the reins more and more tightly.

Alvin might be considered the worst wyvern rider out of everyone since he took the reins from Phi, and Elize and Phi doesn't count because they're still children. They almost fell off about three or four times thanks to Alvin yanking on the reins too tightly on their wyvern, Bluebell. "Try to steer better, please!" pleaded Elize, holding onto the cringing Teepo.

"Aaaahhh! I think I'm gonna barf!" whined Teepo.

"Teepo! Shut up!" yelled Alvin, trying his best to steer better.

"A-are we there yet?!" asked Jude to Milla through the swift winds in the skies.

"No, not yet-!" Milla yanked on the reins on the right side, which caused Spike to turn to face the water downwards. Milla pulled on the reins on top for Spike to fly above the water beneath them. Then, Spike flew up again and flew through a hole in one of the rocky spires before soaring through the clouds high in the sky.

Once Jude opened his eyes, he was amazed to see the sunlight illuminating down. It was if as he could see faint colors of the rainbow gleaming from the sun and showering down unto them. The land of white clouds beneath them looked like soft, fluffy ground, and the whole background looked like a fantasy land, as if it came from a fairy tale. Everyone else, including Phi, who had finally managed to keep Firebolt in place, looked up in astonishment.

Phi glanced down in sadness for a moment. In her future, there was only one time she got to spent soaring through the blue skies, while other people were getting slaughtered and eaten by Dark Rouges. She was only trained once in case she became a wyvern rider to defeat Dark Spirits from above, but that opportunity never came. Despite that, in order to keep the future at peace like the beautiful view she just saw, she needed to work hard, and find the cause of the Dark Rouges.

As if sensing her determination, Firebolt swooped down to the water below, making Phi and Elize cry out in surprise and everyone else to see what was going on. Unfortunely, thanks to the clouds blocking their way, they couldn't see what was going beneath the clouds. Just when Alvin was about to yank on the reins for Firebolt to slow down, Firebolt skimmed his talons across the surface of the sea, and before she knew it, Phi's team was having a great time with Firebolt, despites the troubles he gave them several minutes ago.

Firebolt pulled his body back up into the cloudy sky, where Jude and the others were waiting. Phi, Alvin, and Elize glanced back to try and wave to the others, but they were horrified to see a very large, green bird and dinosaur-like monster much bigger than any of the wyverns flew up right next to them.

_'I've only seen it in books, but I think that's a Pterobronc! The Ruler of the Skies!' _thought Phi, quickly getting over her shock. "Get out of there, now!" yelled Phi, trying to warn the others.

"W-what the hell is that?!" exclaimed Alvin.

"It's so huge!" cried Teepo. Their wyvern, Firebolt, managed to fly away in time before Pterobronc could take a nice, juicy taste of him.

"It's right on our six!" shouted Elize, terrified.

"Everyone, dive!" ordered Jude. Everyone else didn't need to be told twice, as they swoop past the cloud barriers and out of Pterobronc's range. Alvin's team was the only one still in the clouds, urging Firebolt to fly down as well, but he kept refusing, even when Phi was tempting him with another stick of dead bird. Luckily, the giant dinosaur creatures hasn't noticed their flying team and was after the other wyverns. It started firing fireballs from its mouth, and one of them hit Spike, Jude and Milla's wyvern.

Spike, now having only one unharmed wing, couldn't control his flying without his other wing, so he started crashing down towards a nearby land. "Jude!" screamed Leia.

_'Oh no! Don't tell me that Jude's wyvern got hit! Damn it!' _thought Phi, frustrated with herself. She was wondering what to do when she noticed the spark of determination in Firebolt's eyes. It was if it was intimitated that Pterobronc ignored him, and now Firebolt wishes to challenge him. That gave Phi a great, yet dangerous idea. "Hey, Firebolt! I'll give you all the dead birds in this bag, if you help me defeat that monster!"

"Wait, what?!" shouted Teepo.

"We don't have a choice!" shouted back Phi. "Alvin, can you control Firebolt? This'll be the first and probably last time we do an aerial battle against a beast like that!"

"But-" started Alvin.

"Just hurry up and do it! Come on, Firebolt!"

As if acknowledging her answer, Firebolt roared in response, giving Phi the okay sign. "Alright, let's do this!" shouted Alvin, forcing Firebolt to turn around and chase after Pterobronc while Elize and Teepo screamed in fear.

Meanwhile, Milla and Jude were groaning in pain as they tried to stand up from their crash-landing. Their wyvern Spike, was badly injured, and didn't look like he'd be flying anytime soon. However, that was the least of their concerns.

"Watch out!" warned Milla. Jude turned his head to see the beast, Pterobronc soar towards him with a intent to kill. Just then, Alvin jumped out of nowhere, stood in front of Jude, and parried Pterobronc's claw, but that caused Alvin to fly back a bit. However, Rowen, and Leia arrived at the scene, prepared to fight.

"Alvin, are you okay?" grunted Jude, now standing on his own two feet.

With a small _click-clank _sound, Alvin focused his gun at the Pterobronc. "No time to chat now, kid!"

The Pterobronc flew higher into the sky before creating a rain of fireballs, casting them down towards the group. Immediantly, the group ran for cover, but the entire plaza of Sharilton, the place where they landed, was completely charred with fireballs.

"Flame Lance!" Suddenly, a single blade of fire flew out of nowhere and stabbed the Pterobronc in the back, creating a small explosion when it collided. As soon as the dust cleared, the Pterobronc was only a little hurt, but mostly unharmed. Also, it was angry as it looked up.

Milla and Rowen took this chance to start gathering spirits and cast an arte together. "Raging Mist!" An opaque white cloud of steam surrounded the Pterobronc, searing it with intense, scalding heat. Everyone else got back on the battlefield and found out who had fired the Flame Lance arte.

Way above, it was Phi and Elize, concentrating on collecting spirits and chanting from above while riding onto their wyvern, Firebolt. Firebolt was calm for once, but there was a fierce fire in his eyes. and if the Pterobronc were to target his temporarily rider, then the monster would have to go past Firebolt first!

"Are...are they fighting while riding a wyvern?!" exclaimed Leia, squinting her eyes. Immediantly, both Alvin and Jude ran and jumped onto Bluebell's back, making her screech and fly upwards.

"What are you doing?!" shouted Milla, surprised.

"Sorry Milla! We have to help Phi and Elize!" called Jude before his wyvern, Bluebell, rode off. As soon as the steam around the Pterobronc cleared, it roared when it saw Phi, Elize, and Firebolt, and flew towards them faster than Jude and Alvin.

Phi, getting a little off-guard, shouted, "Firebolt! Dodge!" Firebolt turned to fly away to avoid the Pterobronc, but he was one second too late. The Pterobronc twisted around and knocked Firebolt around, fumbling with his flying and almost causing Phi and Elize to fall off.

"Phi! Elize Are you okay?" called Jude. Phi nodded, but she was clutching onto her arm as Elize held tight around her waist. Sure they may have survived that blow, but Phi's arm took the hit for her, but not enough to cause a bruise.

"We have to find its weak spot! Don't get too close to it!" shouted Alvin, shooting at the Pterobronc, though it had little damage to it.

Meanwhile, since the others on the ground couldn't fly up to the monster without wyverns, they were casting artes to either support their allies or fight the monster. "Brutal Torrent!" cried both Rowen and Leia in unison. Just when the Pterobronc was about to target Alvin, a sphere of water splashed all over the Pterobronc's head from above and shocked it, flinching it for only a few seconds.

"Now's my chance! Wind Blade!" shouted Jude, thrusting his palm forward. Blades of green wind spread out in a fan shape and flew towards the Pterobronc, dealing scratches all over its body.

The Pterobronc roared before firing fireballs all over the skies, targeting Phi, Elize, Jude, and Alvin. One hit Alvin in the shoulder, and two other almost hit Jude and Phi. Elize, seeing how hurt Alvin was, started chanting a healing spell. "Spirits flutter and prevent misfortune, Nurse!"

Since Phi, Elize herself, and Jude were close next to Alvin, they were also consumed in a blue light that made their injuries vanish, and so did their wyverns. While concentrating on getting more spirits for a new spirit arte, Phi ordered, "I need you two to distract that beast while I cast an arte! Give me ten seconds!"

"Right!" Both males agreed before whipping their reins so that both their wyverns could fly towards the Pterobronc. Alvin unsheathed his sword, but put away his gun as he advanced closer and closer to the Pterobronc. The Pterobronc wasn't stupid enough to let Alvin lay a hit, so it fired a series of fireballs at him while Jude flew in from behind.

"Aqua Edge!" yelled Milla. Blades of water sprung up from the sea and blocked every single fireball in Alvin's way, keeping him from harm's way.

"Double Demon Fang!" Striking twice, Jude delivered two heavy blows to the Pterobronc once he got close and managed to jump on its back. Before the Pterobronc could shake Jude off, Jude had already jumped off the monster and grabbed hold of Bluebell's reins before climbing back to her back.

"Get out of the way, now! Elize, take the reins!" ordered Phi, now wielding a green mana-based bow and arrow that she created out of thunder spirits during the free time she gained, while Elize tried to control Firebolt. Phi was never taught how to properly fire correctly, but she had fired an arrow before. It was just she never had practice for a bow, so she'll just have to hope that at least one of the three arrows will hit the Pterobronc! "Thunder Arrow!"

Immediantly, Alvin and Jude flew out of the way as soon as Phi fired a electrical arrow towards the Pterobronc. However, her arrow missed and flew straight towards a cloud, not that it had any effect.

"Try again!" called Jude. Phi nodded before positoning herself, ready to fire her second mana arrow. Just then, the Pterobronc flapped its wings so hard that heavy winds started blowing all over the place, nearly making Jude, Alvin, Elize, and Phi fall off their wyverns, and making Milla and the others below lose their concentration on their casting and incantations. Also, Phi let loose her second arrow, and it lost to the winds.

"You've only got one shot left! Aim for the kill-shot! The heart!" shouted Alvin, loading up his gun and firing at the Pterobronc. Jude was chanting some spirit artes, and was firing blades of winds towards the Pterobronc, though it didn't have any effect. As the two men were fighting against the Ruler of the Skies, Phi was trying to aim carefully to the beast, but there was only two problems. One, she's not skilled in firing an arrow, and two, the Pterobronc was moving too fast for her to adjust her aim correctly.

Frustrated, the Pterobronc decided to end it all by flapping its wings once more, bringing a more powerful, terrible storm of winds. Luckily, Phi,Elize, Alvin, and Jude had enough common sense to wrap their wyvern's reins around their hands for that moment, but the others below were knocked off their feet, literally.

"Get in close! Now!" Phi ordered Elize, who was still holding the reins. Firebolt zoomed past Jude and Alvin and got behind the Pterobronc in just a full second. With every strength he had, Firebolt bit down the sky ruler's shoulder, making it roar so loud, the roar was heard all over Sharilton. The Pterobronc twisted its neck to face Phi, Elize, and Firebolt, and was storing up a huge fireball in its mouth.

"Get out of there, Phi and Elize!" cried Leia, channeling some spirits to try and protect both girls. Her instincts told her that something bad was going to happen, so even if she can't block the Pterobronc's attack, she can at least try to defend Phi and Elize-!

"Firebolt, let go!' shouted Elize, tugging at the reins desperately. However, Firebolt refused and continued to bite deep into the monster's back.

_'Damn it! I don't how to control Firebolt well! Only Aylen could! What to do?!' _thought Phi. Suddenly, she got an idea and turned around. Then, she plucked out one of Firebolt's feathers.

With a loud cry of pain, Firebolt released the Pterobronc and flew out of the way. Unfortunely, when Firebolt flew away and unpurposely showed his back, that gave an golden opportunity for the Pterobronc. The breath it accumulated was released in a conflagration of fire, a crimson red line of fire exhaling from the Pterobronc's mouth, leaving a trail in the air.

Elize pulled Firebolt's reins to the left and tried to avoid the pillar of fire, but the pillar of fire struck Firebolt's right wing and legs, causing an explosion which made Firebolt land on the ground in Sharilton, and for Phi and Elize to fall down into the ocean from high above.

"PHI! ELIZE!" screamed Jude, forcing his wyvern, Bluebell, to fly towards Phi and Elize. Jude and Alvin reached out a hand to try and grab them. Phi, however, had other plans and aimed and fired her third green arrow towards the Pterobronc.

**SWOOSH! SPLASH! **The second Phi and Elize fell to the water, the last green arrow hit the Pterobronc, but not exactly as Phi wanted it to be. Instead, it only struck the monster's leg, but that was enough. In fact, the sky beast cried in pain as it furiously started flying its wings to stay up. A bird can fly if it has both its wings and legs completely safe, but since Phi injured one of the Pterobronc's legs, its flying was off balanced.

"Phi! Elize! Where are you?!" Jude looked around the waters to find Phi and Elize. Bluebell wouldn't dare go near the ocean, so it left Jude and Alvin with only the option to search for Phi. Finally, Phi and Elize sprang up from the water and into the surface, gasping for breath and coughing out salt water they possibly swallowed. Jude sighed in relief.

"Kid, watch out!" cried out Alvin. Jude looked up and saw the Pterobronc shooting fireballs again. As Alvin and Jude's wyvern, Bluebell, try to fly and dodge all of them, eventually, one of them hit the wyvern.

"Aaaaahhhh!" Both Jude and Alvin screamed as they and their wyvern crashed to the grounds of Sharilton, defeated.

"Jude! Alvin!" cried both Leia. rushing to their sides and healing them quickly with her spirit artes.

"Tidal Wave!" hollered Milla with all her might. A large wave that reached to the heavens raised up and up until it was as high as the Pterbronc before it slammed down, engulfing the monster. Then, the monster rose from the deadly waters and prepared for another fire blast, but wasn't prepared for one final attack.

"Crescendo! Gracioso!" chanted Rowen, moving his hands as if he was conducting a play. As if triggering something, the heavy waves that created a single tidal wave rose up into several ice pillars, one of them freezing the Pterobronc. Then, walking away with his back turned, Rowen secretly threw a knife at the ice pillars, shattering all of them in one hit. "Grand Finale!"

This special technique was more than just effective. It also destroyed the frozen Pterobronc, the Ruler of the Skies! Now, its frozen remains will wander into the deep seas, for all eternity.

"Wait! What about Phi and Elize?!" questioned Jude, recovering a bit and standing up. Him and Alvin ran to the edge of the sea and called out, "Phi! Elize! Where are you?!"

"Right *cough* h-here!" coughed out Phi, dog paddling her way to Jude tiredily while helping Elize. She weakly reached out a hand, and Jude and Elize quickly took it, pulling both girls to shore. Leia tended to them and hit them in the back to stop their coughing.

"Please, no one panic! Women and children, seek shelter in your homes!" ordered a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Driselle and a few green soldiers with her. Once Driselle realized it was them, Elize came up to her. "Elly? What are you doing here?"

"I'm home," replied Elize with Rowen walking up behind her. Just then, Alvin collapsed on his knees, bring everyone's attention.

"You okay? You took a tough hit when you saved me," said Jude, rushing to his side.

"Seemed like no big whup at the time, but now, it's really hitting me," wheezed Alvin.

"Help us carry the injured," ordered Driselle to some soldiers.

* * *

_Later... _

Ever since everyone got better a few hours later, they were informed that the wyverns were in no position to be flying anytime soon, so that leaves them with the option of walking to Fenmont. Of course, Milla decided they should rest for one day before heading to Fenmont to refresh their energy, so everyone wandered off in their own.

Phi found Rowen in Driselle's mansion, sitting all alone in a table and sipping some tea. He looked deep in thought, so she decided to let him wait. However, Rowen noticed Phi and asked, "What are you doing there, Phi?"

"Oh, you looked like you needed a moment alone, so I waited for you," replied Phi, walking towards him before sitting down. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really, no," said Rowen. "Very nice weather we're having, aren't we? For some reason, this reminds me of the time when I first met you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were quite blunt and perhaps a bit rude at the time, but you helped all of us escaped, so for that, I thank you."

"That's all in the past. I helped you because I wanted to, nothing to it," said Phi, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Oh, something else did cross my mind. It seems that Nachtigal knew you somehow back at the fort, but I won't question you about that."

"Well, I have a question for you, then," started Rowen. "Milla does mention every single day that you are a spirit, but you don't seem to show any signs about being a spirit. Oh, and I'm not trying to make you mad or anything."

"Then, what are you asking?"

"What I'm asking is, who are you, Phi?"

"..." Phi took a moment before answering. "Well, I'm not a Rashugal soldier, that's for sure. And I'm not an Auj Oule soldier either. I'm not a spy, or part of Exodus. I'm just a regular human being that's NOT a spirit. Unfortunely, Milla can't get that through her mind. It's pretty tiring, to be honest."

Rowen sighed. "Yes, you are right. It's rather a bit annoying, to be honest."

"And it seems like Milla's everyday hobby to ask me that, no matter what I say."

"Perhaps you should prove that you aren't a spirit," suggested Rowen.

"How, exactly?"

"I do not know, but someday, you may be able to prove to her. After all, even Maxwell can be mistaken sometimes."

"...Yeah. Only thing is, I don't know how," spoke Phi before sipping her tea. She almost spat it out, but she just looked at the brown liquid in disgust. "It's bitter!"

"Perhaps some sugar cubes should do the trick," suggested Rowen calmly, opening a small jar of small white cubes. Curious, Phi dropped two in her tea before stirring it with her spoon and sipping it. Phi nodded her head in approval, relieved that the taste had taken a turn for the better. "Would you also like some scones?" Rowen pushed a small plate of cake-like bread to her. Phi took a small bite and found it to be good.

"It's kinda weird, having some kind of tea party," admitted Phi. "I always thought tea parties was for little girls and dolls."

'Not true. Even grown men such as myself can enjoy tea parties," said Rowen.

"Yeah, I guess so."

After chatting with Rowen for a little while, Phi decided to explore around the mansion just for a few minutes. In one of the rooms, Phi found Elize and Teepo reading a book. Elize looked up and cried, "Oh, Phi! Nice to see you. Are you okay?"

Phi nodded before entering inside. "Um...what are you reading?"

"It's a story called, Little Red Riding Hood! It's one of my favorite stories," answered Elize.

"I never heard of it before," spoke Phi honestly. Back in her time, she never had the time to read children stories, but rather, books for strategies and important stuff like that.

"What? You never heard of this awesome book?" exclaimed Teepo.

"I'll read it out to you," offered Elize. "Is that okay?" Phi nodded before sitting down in front of her. "Okay, here goes..."

* * *

**One day, a girl named Little Red Riding Hood heard that her grandmother was sick, so she decided to give her good, delicious food in a basket and deliver it to her house. Wearing her good red cape, she set off in the forest, unknown that a certain wolf was following her.**

**This wolf was named the Big Bad Wolf, and once he smelled the delicious scent coming from Little Red Riding Hood's basket, he set off to try and steal from her secretly. Once he got to her, he asked gently, "Why hello, Little Red Riding Hood! Fancy meeting you here! What's the basket for?"**

**Little Red Riding Hood said, "Oh, these are for my grandmother, who's sick."**

**"Well, why don't you pick flowers for her, then? I'm sure she'll like that!"**

**Agrreing, Little Red Riding Hood set off to go pick flowers for her grandmother, while the Big Bad Wolf set off towards the direction of her grandmother's home. Once there, he broke down the door, ate her grandmother, and disguised himself as Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.**

**At arriving at her grandmother's home, Little Red Riding Hood entered inside and saw her grandmother in bed. However, she looked strange, so she approached her.**

**"Oh, grandmother! What big ears you have!" cried Little Red Riding Hood.**

**"All the better to hear you, child," said the Big Bad Wolf, disguised as her grandmother.**

**"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"**

**'All the better to see you, child."**

**"Grandmother, what big teeth you have!"**

**"All the better to eat you!"**

**With that said, the Big Bad Wolf swallowed up Little Red Riding Hood in one gulp. After eating her, he began to feel tired, so he fell asleep.**

**Meanwhile, the hunter of the forest saw that a house has been broken down and went inside to see the Big Bad Wolf all fat and plump, sleeping on the ground. The hunter then cut out the Big Bad Wolf's stomach, freeing Little Red Riding Hood and her mother.**

**Everyone celebrated by eating the delicious food Little Red Riding Hood brought, and they all lived happily ever after! The End! **

* * *

"Wait, that's it?" asked Phi, surprised. "Okay, so many things here made no sense whatsoever. First, how can wolves talk? Second, why did Little Red Riding Hood talk to him as if it was normal? Third, how was Little Red Riding Hood not able to identify the Big Bad Wolf after he ate her grandmother? Fourth, how are they still alive after getting eaten? And fifth, I thought this was a children's story! There's not supposed to be killing!"

"Hey, it's a fairy tale! It's not supposed to make sense!" replied Teepo.

"A fairy tale? What's that? Fairies have tails?"

"You mean, you don't know what a fairy tale is?" asked Elize, surprised. "A fairy tale is a type of short story that involves fantasy, like princesses or magic."

"Oh? I've never heard of fairy tales before, sorry," apologized Phi.

"That's fine, don't worry about it! If you like, I can tell you all the fairy tales I know."

"Maybe not today, Elize. Okay?"

"Sure."

Once outside, she spotted Leia outside in town, wandering around. "Leia!" called Phi, walking towards her.

"Oh, hey Phi," said Leia. "It sure is hot, isn't it? I was going to get some ice cream. Want to come with?"

"Ice...cream? Cream has ice in it?" asked Phi, confused. She's never heard of ice cream before, and even if she had, she wouldn't have seen it before either.

"You mean you've never tasted ice cream before?" gasped Leia, surprised. "Well, come on! It'll be my treat!" Grabbing her hand, Leia marched over to the ice cream stand, dragging Phi along. Afterwards, she ordered two popsicles from the ice cream man and handed one to Phi.

Phi hesitantly took a small bite of it, and found her front teeth cold. However, when she absorbed the taste, it wasn't just cold, but fruity as well. "It's good," muttered Phi, amazed.

"See? Told ya!" cheered Leia, licking her popsicle. "Hurry up and eat yours! You don't want it to melt, do you?"

"Huh? Alright." As fast as she could, Phi started gobbling down the popsicle and swallowing it as fast as she could. However, he head started thrubbing like crazy, and she could feel a cold sensation, making her stop.

Leia giggled. "You're not supposed to eat it that fast! Otherwise, you'll get brain freeze! Just eat it normally, not too fast though."

Phi nodded in agreement. Both girls sat down in a bench and silently ate their popsicles. Finally, Leia spoke. "Um...Phi? What do you plan to do after all of this is over?"

"Well, I plan to travel around like Alvin, only not as a mercenary. What about you, Leia? Are you coming back to Leronde?"

"Yeah, after all, I can't keep my folks waiting! My mom especially, since she can be scary," chuckled Leia nervously. "But wait, don't you have any parents or family? I bet they must be worried."

"Sorry, but no," said Phi. "I'm an orphan, ever since...Austin and Nia Matthews died."

"Who are they? Are they your caretakers?"

"No, they're my former real parents, but they're dead, and I have no one else to turn to. I don't even want to get adopted anyways."

"Why are you calling them by just their first and last names?" asked Leia.

"Because I don't view them as parents, but I'll at least call them by their real names." Phi was lying a little. Sure, her parents are dead, but she lied about their names.

"Oh. Alright," said Leia. "Hey, your ice cream's melting!"

"Huh? Oh!" Phi tried to lick the rest of her ice cream, which ended up in disaster, and Leia's happy laughter. Leia helped clean Phi up, though, and both talked for a while before going their separate ways.

Phi saw Alvin looking out at the shore and walked up to him from behind. She saw that Alvin was writing something, possibly to the woman he's always writing to. As soon as he was done, he placed the letter in some sort of small bottle before handing it to his small bird companion, watching it go fly.

"There, and another job well done," sighed Alvin to himself. "Hope that she gets it and not piss off at me."

"So it seems," spoke Phi finally.

"Gah!" cried out Alvin, surprised. He turned around, and saw only Phi there. "What?! When did you-?!"

"I've been here the whooole time," Phi teased a bit while looking deadpanned.

"..."

"Just teasing. I just got here a while ago."

"Seriously? I totally didn't notice you," said Alvin, impressed.

"Oh. I guess your hearing's starting to go. How sad," spoke Phi sarcastically.

_'Rrrgghhh...' _thought Alvin, a tick mark at his forehead. "Anyways, did you read what I wrote in that letter?"

"No. Were you writing about something you didn't want me to know about?"

"No. Just writing to some friend."

"Some friend, huh," said Phi, obviously not believing Alvin. "Whatever. I won't press the matter any longer."

"So, what are you doing here, anyways?"

"Oh, just wanted to take a stroll, that's all."

"Uh-huh," said Alvin, obviously not believing Phi. "Well, I have a question for you. Why did you decided to trust me when the others wouldn't? What would you gain by trusting me?"

"That's simple. Your trust," answered Phi. "I trust you, so someday, you may trust me."

"Okay, so why do you trust me?"

"You're...interesting, that's why. Also, I wanted to give you a second chance is all. Sooner or later, the other will trust you too, but you need to build that trust. Oh, and there's another reason."

"And that is?"

"Well, it's because of your mother. You joined Exodus to save her, didn't you? Well, I know what it's like for someone to lose their parents, so I want to help you. There's no way I'm letting you experience letting your mother die."

Alvin smiled gently. "Thanks, kiddo," said Alvin, ruffling her head. "But I'm all grown-up, so I can take care of my own mother."

"I know that. So, let me ask you something. Do you trust me?"

"Well, not really, to be honest."

"Understandable," sighed Phi. "Whatever, so I'm leaving."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To get some rest for tommorow, stupid. You get some too, alright?" Phi turned around and started heading back to the mansion for some rest. When she appeared at the entrance, she saw Jude and Milla chatting together. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were happy, and Phi saw some red in Jude's cheeks.

"Jude? Milla?" called Phi, walking towards them.

"Oh, hey Phi. Something you need?" asked Jude, kneeling to her level.

"Not really. Just wanted to see what you guys were up to. That's all. By the way Milla, I'm not a spirit if you're going to ask that."

"..." Milla looked sternly at Phi, but didn't say anything.

"Come on, can't you two quit it? It's already bad enough with the trouble we're having," protested Jude.

"Oh don't worry, Jude. I trust Milla, but I dislike the attitude she's giving me," replied Phi, glaring back at Milla.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, Phi, but I can't trust you at all," said Milla. "Although you have done some good things, you are, at least, very suspicious to me."

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Are you two doing okay? How are your injuries?"

'We're fine," said Jude.

"...Phi, there is one thing I wish to talk to you about. I strongly suggest you keep this in mind," advised Milla. "If anyone harms my friends in any way, I will make them pay, regardless of who they are."

"...I'll remember that," said Phi before she turned around to leave.

"Milla-"

"I don't want to hear it, Jude. That was neccessary to say, and I know you know it."

"I know that, but even if you don't want to trust Phi, at least put a little faith in her," said Jude. "If you won't do it for Phi or me, at least do it for yourself."

"...I will think upon that."

* * *

**Alright, I'm finished here! So, I've got some important stuff to do, so see ya!**


	11. Fenmont

**Hey guys, welcome to another wonderful chapter of this story! Yeah, that's all I have to say, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Alvin! Hurry up! You're hogging up the bathroom!" shouted Phi, impatient. She was waiting for Alvin since the others were already outside, waiting for the two of them, but Alvin has been in the bathroom for who knows how long!

"Just hold on! Can't a man go to the bathroom in private?" called back Alvin. Finally, he came out, looking refreshed. "Jeez, I was only in there for a few minutes! No need to get off the wrong side of the bed!"

"Whatever. Are you finished? The others are already outside, waiting for us," informed Phi. "I'm sorry if I was rude eariler, but you were taking too long. Anyways, you ready?"

"Yeah." Once the two of them got outside, they saw everyone else waiting in front of the mansion with their backs turned. It looked like they were in the middle of a conversation. Alvin turned to Phi and asked, "Kinda curious what they're talking about. You don't mind me sneaking a peek?"

"You mean eavesdropping? Whatever. You're the grown-up here." Phi and Alvin sneaked into some bushes near the group and could completely hear what they were talking about.

"Where's Alvin and Phi?' wondered Jude.

"He's probably figuring out his next lie," said Elize, still unable to trust Alvin. Nobody could blame her, after what he did.

"What does everyone else think of Alvin and Phi? I understand you trust Phi more than Alvin, but do you feel safe going into battle with Alvin?"

"'Kinda curious,' huh?" muttered Phi, turning to Alvin.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know they were talking about me?" whispered back Alvin with a sheepish grin on his face.

"He's just trying to help out his mom, right? I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff," admitted Leia.

"I worry he himself will be unable to deal with that way of life much longer," said Rowen, worried.

Elize didn't say anything, but Teepo reminded her, "Don't forget! Alvin was the one who saved me from the bad guys!"

"What do you think, Milla?" asked Jude, turning to her.

"We'll need to keep up our guard around him until he reveals his hand. He remains trustsworthy in battle, at least," decided Milla. "That leaves us with Phi. She's the most mysterious to me."

"Yes, you're right. For all we know, she could be an Exodus agent just like Alvin," agreed Rowen. "We may know a bit about Alvin, but we really don't know anything about Phi."

"Oh! I just remembered! I know a little about Phi," revealed Leia. "I got her talking yesterday. She's never tasted ice cream before. She said she's an orphan, and that her parents are dead. But that's not the worst part. She hates her parents so much, that she'll only refer to them as their first names."

_'And this is why I don't like telling people about my past. Seriously, why can't they mind their own businesses?' _Phi wanted to complain outloud.

"Oh! Phi's never heard of fairy tales before, so I read one to her," said Elize. "I read Little Red Riding Hood to her, but she still doesn't understand fairy tales. I don't think she grew up reading those kinds of stories."

Alvin quietly snickered at Phi, who angrily glared at him. "You didn't read fairy tales?" he whispered. A few seconds later, it took everything he had not to scream out loud from the painful injury he got on his foot from Phi.

"Hmm...that's not going to help much," said Milla. "Jude, you've been around her the most. Do you know anything?"

Jude hasn't really realized it, but now, he knew nothing about Phi except her name, her lack of fairy tale and ice cream knowledge, and her hatred for her parents. Who is she, really? The more he thought about it, the more suspicious Phi was.

"Sorry, I really don't know anything," apologized Jude. "I'm as clueless as the rest of you."

"Well, I think Phi's a spirit," said Milla. Everyone, except Alvin and Phi, groaned. How long was she going to bring that up?

"Milla, I really don't think she's a spirit," said Leia. "Would you just drop it already? Besides, how can you prove she is one? Besides the fact that you can sense she has power inside?"

"I'm not quite sure," said Milla. "But I will find out eventually. That's more reason to suspect her. Regardless, I can't trust her."

"Why? You said before that you would trust her completely after we left Kanbalar," reminded Jude.

"True, but I don't completely trust her. While it is true she's helped us out several times, she is still considered suspicious. Then again, in the future, my point of view might change. For now, I still think Phi is a spirit, and that Alvin is still suspicious as well."

Suddenly, before he knew it, Phi stood up, pulling alongside Alvin with her."Act as if we just got here," whispered Phi as loud as she could for Alvin to hear her. Alvin immediantly understood her intention and played along.

"Now, now. It's not polite to talk about someone behind his back," said Alvin doing his hand signature as he and Phi were walking up to the group. "What can I say? You guys are my only allies."

"Um...did you hear what we just said?" asked Leia, a bit worried for Phi in case she and Alvin secretly eavesdropped their conversation.

"No, I arrived outside and saw Alvin. Then, we met up and saw the rest of you," lied Phi, acting normal and calm.

"That makes everyone. Let's be off," said Milla as if nothing fazed her.

"Please, wait!" shouted Elize, turning to Rowen. "Rowen, are you really going to fight with...you know?"

Rowen gave an assured smile before looking far away in the distance. "It is my fault that Nachtigal became the man he is. I am prepared to fight him when the time comes."

"You have our support," promised Jude. "I guess that means we're all ready."

_'Oh, so that's what he was talking about. Nachtigal is probably his close friend. I did remember Stella telling me about how her grandpa, Rowen, was old friends with Nachtigal,' _thought Phi.

After a few hours of riding the wyverns towards some grassy plains, the group finally reached a location that could get them the road to Fenmont, which was still far away, but better than nothing. After a few days of fighting through monsters, spending some nights out in the wilderness, and for some reason, Leia trying to learn a strange language similar to what Wingul was saying, only in rubbish, the group finally arrived in Fenmont at night.

However, in the bright city of Fenmont, it wasn;t a happy reunion. There were guards running around, some people crying, injured people being carried to hospitals, and other disastrous things. "What's going on?" wondered Jude, shocked.

"Hey, look!" cried Leia, pointing to something a bit far. The group turned and saw smoke coming from one of the largest buildings in Fenmont.

Milla and Jude recognized that building as the lab, where Jude's professor get killed and where they first met. "That's where the Lance of Kresnik is, let's go to the lab!" ordered Milla.

_'Never thought I would visit Fenmont again. Well, this is my first time visiting in this time, but this is where I used to live,' _thought Phi. _'Damn it, I rather not bring up bad memories, so I'm just going to pretend I don't know this place and play along.' _

Once arriving at the front entrance of the blue illuminating laboratory, Jude and the others saw a few unconscious soldiers and some doctors tending to their wounds. Jude kneeled down to a soldier and asked, "Are you okay?" Jude carefully removed the soldier's helmet as Leia and Elize started healing the other soldiers, and was shocked to see a familiar face. "Mr. Eldin?"

"Doc...doctor Jude?" Mr. Eldin whispered weakly.

"Don't move. You're hurt pretty badly."

"Listen to me, doc," said Mr. Eldin, gasping heavily. "She tricked us. One of the researchers was actually an Auj Oule spy. When I tried to arrest her, she blew up the entire testing chamber."

"Who was she?" asked Phi, obviously in a bad mood. Well, for one, she knows that the laboratory was also where people constructed human experiments, and she was once a victim to it many times.

"I...I don't know."

"We'll carry the wounded to the hospital. Come with me," said one of the doctors, offering his hand. Mr. Eldin took his hand and the doctor helped him to his feet before carrying him to the hospital.

"Sounds like Gaius is making his move," said Jude, standing up.

"We can't waste anymore time," announced Milla, turning to the laboratory doors which were guarded by two guards. "We'll have to go through with force. It's truly unfortunate."

"Wait, I have a better idea," said Phi, cracking her knuckles. "This'll only take a minute."

"Um...what are you going to do?" asked Elize, uneased. Everyone watched as Phi walked up to the guards very slowly.

"Hey, misters!" called out Phi. "There's something wrong in the water! It looks like something's about to happen!" As soon as the soldiers turned their backs on her and were heading straight towards the river, Phi easily knocked them out.

"Hmm...interesting. Well done, Phi," praised Milla as she watched Phi hide the unconscious soldiers' bodies behind some rather rough bushes.

"W-what?! No! No way! That's not okay!" said Jude, panicking.

"Relax. After the guards wake up, they won't know what hit him. They'll just assume some Auj Oule spy knocked them out, is all," assured Phi. "Besides, I rather avoid attention here. Let's move already, people!"

"B-but you can't-you can't just-!" sputtered Jude, still shocked over what happened.

"Jude, sometimes there are things you can and cannot do," said Rowen, placing a hand on the young teenager's shoulder. "And perhaps Phi's plan was for the best."

"You're probably right..."

Actually, things got way worse inside. First off, there were guards inside, and they had to knock out any witnesses who saw them invading the laboratory. Second, Phi had gone missing ever since they entered, so no one had any idea where she was. And third, the lab was too big, so they ended up in dead ends a lot of times.

While walking around on the glass bridges in the laboratory, the group heard some noises like gun shots from the lower level and looked down just in time to see Phi pinning a young teenage scientist to the wall using her katana.

"What's she doing?" wondered Jude.

"I'm not looking for the way out! I asked for the location of the human experiments in this laboratory!" told Phi seriously. "Didn't you hear me?"

"B-believe me! I don't know what you're talking about!" cried out the scientsit. "There's never been human experimenting before in this lab! Besides, I only work in the lower levels of the lab! Go ask the upper level scientists or something!"

"I don't like people I don't trust."

"Then go ask the soldiers! They're all over Fenmont and around here somewhere!"

"Everyone keeps telling me the same thing!"

"Because it's obvious!"

"Useless..." mumbled Phi under her breath before unsheathing her katana. Then, she hand chopped the scientist in the neck, knocking him out instantly. She picked him up by the collar, then threw him to the ground.

"Phi!" called Jude. "Up here!"

Phi looked up to see the others in the upper levels. "What are you guys doing there?" she called.

"We should be asking the same thing!" called back Jude. "What are you doing down there?"

Then, Phi started jumping onto crates, getting higher and higher like a monkey, until she grabbed hold of the upper level railings and landed to where Jude and the others were.

"Where were you? All of a sudden, you disappeared," asked Leia.

"I was trying to find out if they were performing human experiments in here, and wanted to free some survivors," explained Phi.

"Yeah, by finding out, you mean forcing them to cough out information, then knocking them out afterwards, right?" questioned Alvin a bit sarcastically.

"Pretty much."

"Phi, you can't just go around knocking people out!" said Jude.

"I don't. I only knock out the ones that are enemies to me."

"And you consider those innocent scientists enemies?"

"To be fair, it was out of self-defense since those scientists had weapons. I didn't plan to attack them, it just happened. So, where to now?"

"Well, I'm going to tell you what we're NOT going to do," said Jude. "We're obviously not going to force someone, and we're not going to knock them out afterwards. Right, guys?"

"Well...actually, I may have to agree on Phi's plan," admitted Leia.

"Yeah, seems legit," agreed Alvin.

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree on Phi's plan too, Jude. It'll be much faster to gather information," said Milla.

"Oh, come on! Isn't there anyone who won't resort to violence?"

"Um...I'm with you on this one, Jude," said Elize.

"Me too! You're the best buddy ever!" cheered Teepo.

"Even I have to agree that violence is not the best resort," replied Rowen.

"Whew, at least some people are on my side," sighed Jude in relief. Suddenly, a sudden thud was heard on the other side of a door nearby, making everyone turn to the noise. "What was that?" Immediantly, everyone ran to the door before opening it and hurrying inside.

Inside, there was lots of tanks of mysterious liquid inside, shocking everyone. But more shocking was an old innocent woman laying on the ground. Jude ran to her side and tried to wake her up.

"I don't know anything. I'm sorry," murmured the old woman.

"It's the mayor!" exclaimed Elize, kneeling down to her side.

"The mayor of Hamil?" wondered Milla, surprised. "They did say that the Rashugal army invaded the village."

After hearing that, the mayor gasped. "All of the villagers...frozen solid! No! No!"

"Hey! Come back to us! Don't give up!" encouraged Milla, a hint of desperation in her tone. All the mayor could do was utter a few sounds before passing away in Jude's arms.

"Oh no! Mayor!" cried Elize, turning away. Nobody blamed her, because they were doing the same.

"It's Professor Haus all over again," muttered Jude.

_'I'm going to take a guess and say that was Jude's teacher, and that he suffered the same way that old lady died,' _thought Phi.

"The villagers were frozen solid? What could that mean?" pondered Rowen, stroking his beard in deep thought. "Is this was Gaius' henchwoman meant when she said the power of the Great Spirit?"

"This woman was knocking on Death's door. She might have been delusional," suggested Alvin, crossing his arms.

"Either way, this is unforgivable," said Milla, comforting Elize.

"...Hey, just out of curiosity, did you check if there were other people like that lady in other rooms? I checked through all of the doors in the lower levels, but nothing," questioned Phi.

"No," said Rowen.

"Maybe there's something we can do," said Jude, climbing up a ladder. Everyone followed him upstairs and watched as he was typing something in a computer.

"Can this contraption help us?" asked Milla.

"It might let us look in on the Lance," replied Jude. Soon, something was appearing on the computer screen, surprising everyone. It wasn't much, but they could still see a person or two. "Here's the video feed."

However, the video feed only showed a large area where something huge like the Lance of Kresnik could be stored. No Lance of Kresnik was there, unfortunely.

"There's nothing there," commented Leia.

"If that's true, did that explosion destroy it?" wondered Milla. _'If it did, we better give the person who made that explosion a thank-you card,' _thought Phi sarcastically.

"Surely it would leave some wreckage behind," said Rowen. _'Way to spoil our victory, Rowen,' _thought Phi.

"Maybe it was moved before the explosion occured. That's the only logical explanation," suggested Milla. _'Now, that's just worse.' _

"Milla, look! I found a record of what happened!" said Jude, discovering another video being recorded. "Is that the spy Mr. Eldin was talking about?"

Now, it just showed a young girl just wandering around the laboratory. "That girl was the one who attacked us in the laboratory," said Milla, recognizing her. Soon, it showed Mr. Eldin talking to the young girl, but the young girl had something in her hands.

"Hey, what's she got there?" wondered Alvin. A loud BOOM sound was heard, and the computer screen went blank.

"It looks like someone discovered her ruse, so she detonated a bomb," replied Milla.

"But isn't she an Auj Oule spy?" asked Alvin. "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't have risked my life like that even if my cover was blown. In a game of espionage, a dead body can still provide valuable intel."

"Then, how about this: Maybe she planned to blow up the Lance all along, and Mr. Eldin finding her was just a coincidence," theorized Jude.

"If Jude's theory is true, then it's most likely the girl didn't know the Lance had left the factory," supported Rowen.

"That means she's now on her way to the location where the Lance was taken," finished Alvin. "Or trying to find out where that location is."

"In either case, we might find something if we can catch her," said Milla.

"According to the time stamp left on the video, the explosion occured only half an hour ago," said Jude. "Which means she's probably still in the city."

_'Hmm...this reminds me of one of the characters future Leia told me,' _thought Phi. _'She did mention about a girl named Agria, and that since she had a terrible past, she kinda became insane. Also, for some reasons, Agria hated Leia's guts and insulted her. Yeah, sociopaths can be weird. Why did I think that girl was Agria anyways? There's no way someone like her could be Agria.' _

And how wrong she was a few minutes later.

The gang finally found the girl talking with some yellow masked guards in another part of the city. Phi shouted, "Hey, you! Girl in red! We have to talk to you!"

The girl in red turned around and saw Phi, Jude, and Milla, and the others that were running behind them. If anything, her looks were insane. "Yes, yes, yes! I recognize you two! I finally get to finish you off! And it's not even my birthday!" crackled the girl in red.

_'You know, she definitely reminds me of that insane character in the stories, Agria,' _thought Phi, thinking of all this as a coincidence.

"Sorry to interrupt your little psychotic episiode, but we really need to ask you something," said Milla calmly.

The girl in red only laughed of madness. "And why would I tell you anything?"

"Wait, I have seen you before," said Rowen, recognizing her. "Is it possible? Are you Lady Nadia of the Travis House?"

"Huh?!" The girl seemed shocked by what Rowen said, and it seemed Rowen got his answer from her expression. "Oh. I dunno about anything about that stinkin' house. I'm Agria of the Shadowless, of the Chimeriad!"

_'Oh shit! I was right!' _thought Phi. _'Probably should have guessed from her insane behavior. Man, if I knew long ago I would be time traveling, I should have asked Future Leia about all her weaknesses! Guess it's too late now. Besides, Leia in my future is already dead to begin with.' _

"So, you're working for Gaius," said Milla.

"What's it to you?' wondered Agria.

"You tried to destroy the Lance of Kresnik. We want to destroy it, too. That makes us allies. If you know where the Lance of Kresnik is, tell us."

_'No, no, no, no! That does not make us allies!' _thought Phi frantically. _'She's an enemy! I don't usually judge people based on their appearance or personality, but she's too insane! Besides, I read she's going to attack us!' _

Agria only laughed. "Like I'd tell you anything!"

"Please! You want to destroy it for the very same reason we do, right? Because it's dangerous?" pleaded Leia.

Agria said the one thing that shocked Leia. "You reek."

_'Future Leia did say she was honest and straight about things,' _thought Phi. _'Poor Leia.' _

"Ahahaha! Ooh! I know! Before I blow up the Lance of Kresnik, I'll blow up Rashugal to ittsy-bitsy bits! Ahahaha!"

"What is your problem?" demanded Leia. "We're working our butts off to save the world, and you think it's funny to stand in our way? What are you, five?"

"You think you can fill the world with rainbows and kittens just by working hard?" questioned Agria. "Ahahaha! That sweet reek of yours is giving me brain decay!"

"What's your beef with hard work?!" argued Leia.

"Zip it, you little pimple, or I'll pop you!"

"E-excuse me?!"

Finally having enough, Agria pulled out her broadsword while the two guards near her also whiped out their own weapons. Agria turned to Jude and Milla and shouted, "I still remembered the agony you caused me that day!"

"This girl is making my head hurt," admitted Milla as her team got out their weapons.

_'Agreed. That girl has serious issues,' _thought Phi. "Alright, Rowen, Elize, and Jude! Standby for backup and casting artes! The others will-"

"AHAHAHAHA!" crackeld Agria charging in recklessly. To everyone's surprise, she ran past Jude and was attacking Leia, who was blocking one of her attacks with her staff. "I'll get rid of you, Reekzilla, then the others are next!"

"What is your problem?!" grunted Leia.

"Leia!" cried Jude. Just then, a bullet flew past Jude and hit a guard that was going to attack Jude from behind. Jude saw Alvin saved him from immediante death by firing his gun.

"Stay focused, kid!" warned Alvin. Meanwhile, Phi was helping Milla take care of the other expert guard, who was blocking their attacks. Finally, Phi grabbed ahold of one of the arms before twisting it behind his back, making him cry out in pain. Milla then stabbed the guard, ending his life quickly before Phi released his dead body.

"All that's left is Agria! Let's finish this!" yelled Phi.

"Flaming Spin!" cried out Agria. She stabbed her boradsword in the ground and channeled fire spirits, surrounding herself with a defensive fire tornado. "AHAHAHAHA! How do you like me now?!"

"Stand back everyone!" ordered Rowen as Jude and Elize were healing Leia's wounds. "Waves come forth! Splash!" A water magic circle appeared above Agria, and sprung out a waterfall that washed away Agria's defensive tornado of flames. Everyone could hear her screams of pain as she was being swallowed by the huge pressure of water. After the tormenting was over, everyone saw a drenched Agria on the ground, not sure if she was dead or not.

"I'll go check her," decided Phi, sheathing her katana and leaping to where she was. Once she was near, however, Agria suddenly got up and with her broadsword, sliced Phi's stomach, blood spurting out of her body and staining Agria's clothes and a bit of her face.

"Phi!" yelled Jude, worried. Phi stood her ground, and easily dodged Agria second strike before jumping back. However, that caused some more pain in her body, considering her cut stomach was leaking out blood. Phi kneeled on her ground like a cat and winched in pain, sweat dripping down from her forehead.

"Damn it!" cursed Alvin as he and some others tried to rush in. Leia was faster and kneeled to Phi's side.

"Stop interferring!" screamed Agria, swunging her sword at them. As soon as she did, blazing flames came out of her broadsword, and a huge wall of flames stood way. "Why is it that people can't do what other people say?! You peons will get your turns once I finish these two losers off!"

"Just hold on! We'll be right there!" called Jude.

"Ahahaha! By the time you peons arrive, I'll have finish these two morons off!" crackled Agria sadistically as she licked some blood off her face. Hearing those words gave Phi some energy and willpower to fight.

With a loud cry, she leaped up into the air and swung her foot at Agria, who blocked it with the blunt side of her weapon. Before Agria has the chance to retaliate, Phi was already in the process of delivering another kick to her head. However, Agria blocked it successfully with her arm, allowing Phi to fling back a few paces. Phi couldn't take anymore hand-to-hand combat since she was already on her knees again, enduring the pain on her stomach, which was making the blood on her clothes spread.

"Ahahaa! You should be careful! If you continue to move, you're only gonna hasten your death! Well, no matter, because I'm going to kill you either way!" said Agria.

"Don't worry about me," said Phi, clutching her stomach. "I'll be fine. If you heal me, she's just going to attack you, and we can't let that happen."

"But, you'll die of blood loss!" cried Leia.

"No way...you know I'm too stubborn to die. Besides, there are more important things I have to do..." mumured Phi. "And-watch out!" Phi stood up in front of Leia just in time to receive a heavy kick from Agria and flunged to a wall.

"Phi!" screamed Leia. She glared angrily at Agria before standing up, her hands clutching tightly to her staff. "Why you-!"

"Come at me, pimple!" taunted Agria, stabbing her broadsword at the ground before channeling fire spirits. Leia took that taunt and charged towards Agria, determined to bet her and save Phi.

"Cerberus Strike!" Spinning around, Leia rapidly striked three times, but only blocked a weak fire arte from Agria, which also made Leia slid back a little.

"You're gonna die!" laughed Agria, pulling up her weapon and swinging at Leia several times. Leia managed to block most of them, but some left her cuts on her arms or legs.

"Take this!" Leia managed to deliver a blow by stabbing her staff at Agria's stomach. However, she was forced to block as Agria's sneering face taunted her mind.

"That didn't hurt one bit! Might have worked on a small school kid!" With that said, Agria's blows started to get more fiercer and fiercer, like the flames that were being produced on her blade.

Leia leaped upwards and started twirling around in the air, spinning faster and faster until she brought her staff down on Agria's blade. The moment the two weapons collided, a large sound was heard and a huge dust cloud surrounded the area. As soon as the cloud was cleared away, Agria and Leia were still standing, but they had injuries.

"Not bad at all, pimple! But, not as good as me!" shouted Agria, charging forward. Leia charged as well, but this time, she pushed aside Agria's broadsword, and punched Agria so hard, it made her slide back and might have shook the world.

"There...how do you like that?" panted Leia, impressed with herself.

"I think we cleared enough flames to go through now!" said Alvin.

"Are you certain? There's still some more flames," said Milla.

"Eh, it'll be fine! I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Agria's way too far away to hear us, and besides, she can't just summon up a storm of flames in this distance, can she?"

'It's time you burned to a CRISP!" Agria screamed the last part out. Pillars of flames surrounded the entire area around her and almost looked like it'll reach the heavens. 'PYRO STORM!"

"AAAAHHHH!" screamed Leia, being knocked back by one of the flame pillars that nearly burned her. If she was more near to them, it wouldn't take even a minute for death to arrive. Also, the area where Milla and the others were, the flames that were once in their way grew larger and making more impossible for them to cross. Everyone glared at Alvin.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know she'd do that?" asked Alvin, sheepishly.

"Hey! You almost ruined my favorite dress!" complained Leia as soon as the flaming pillars died out. "That's it! I'm ending this battle here and now!"

"Oh? And what are you going to do, pimple?"

"And that's the last time you'll call me that!" Leia ran forwards twirling her staff in a circular motion as Agria swung her broadsword at her. Then, she threw her staff up into the air before leaping upwards and catching it. "Ready for this? Soulstroke Celebration!" With a heavy blow downwards, she struck so hard, it caused a little bit of an earthquake. Also, Agria was flung bacwards and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Leia! Phi!" called Jude when he and the others finally cleared the storm of flames that were in their way.

"Don't worry about me! What about Phi?" wondered Leia. She turned and saw Phi, bloody, motionless, and leaning up against the wall with one arm wrapped around the huge red stain on her belly and the other laying limply on the ground. Behind wall behind her and to the side was smeared with blood. Leia's guess was that she must have been slammed to the wall from Agria's kick, then slid sideways as she crumpled to the ground.

"...Oh. You guys are done? Don't worry, I already treated my wound with some gels and bandages," said Phi as if she's talking normally.

"D-don't talk! Elize, can you please help me?" Jude cried out, running to Phi's side and healing her wound, even though she proclaimed she had already taken care of it. Elize had also helped heal Phi's wounds, so Phi's body was quickly recovering, aside from the blood that had spread out.

"...Milla, there's something more important, right? Go and ask Agria," ordered Phi. Milla nodded in agreement before walking towards Agria cautiously, taking out her blade just in case.

Agria slowly opened her eyes only to find a sword pointing down to her forehead. "I should warn you, I'm still not used to the sensation of sweating during exertion," warned Milla. "Couple that with my somewhat clumsy sword grip and well...You might consider being a bit more cooperative. Where is the Lance?"

"...A secret passageway runs under the laboratory. It connects to Orda Palace."

"That's the palace Nachtigal rules from,' answered Jude, helping Phi up on her feet.

"Is it still usable?" asked Milla to Agria.

"Only if you're a worm. It's caved in now."

"So, we can't use it." As soon as Milla lowered her guard while still in thought, Agria literally scrurried away as fast as she could.

"Hey, get back here!" cried Leia.

"Maxwell!" called Agria. "Someday, I'm gonna rip that pretty face of yours to pieces!" Then, she dramatically pointed her finger at Leia, who was surprised at this. "And you, pimple! Listen up! Work, work, work as hard as that scrawny body of yours can handle, and you'll still wind up with two things: jack and squat!"

"Why do you say stuff like that?!" shouted back Leia angrily as Agria ran off. "That girl has serious issues!"

"Hmm...Orda Palace. The enemy stronghold," mumbled Milla. "We should be careful."

"So, after all this, we're going to fight a king? Well, not everyone has the chance to fight a ruler like him," said Phi.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright? You did get sliced in the stomach," reminded Alvin.

"So? A wound like that's nothing once you closed it up. Besides, we shouldn't waste too much time here. Let's hurry up and go."

"I agree with her. Let's move," ordered Milla.

* * *

_Skit: Solution Part 2 _

"Hey! Is that Jude and Milla?" wondered Leia, looking at two wanted posters that showed Jude and Milla's faces, only it looked like a baby drew them.

"Don't worry! I'll take care of it!" said Phi, reading her hand to cast fireballs like the last time she did to the last bulletin board she set fire on in Xian Du.

"No, that won't solve anything," scolded Jude pulling Phi back using the back of her collar. "No setting fire on that board like last time you did."

"Sure." With that said, Phi took out her katana and in a few seconds, sliced the board into tiny bits, shocking everyone else.

"And another board was destroyed. Was this the second time?" asked Alvin, amused.

"Phi!"

"Hey, you said don't burn it down. You didn't say anything about not cutting it."

"Fine! No destroying it," ordered Jude.

* * *

_Skit: Solution Part 3 _

"Hey, look! Another bulletin board that has Milla and Jude's wanted posters!" pointed out Elize. Everyone else turned to Jude and Phi, wondering what they were going to do.

"Phi-"

"I know, Jude. Don't destroy it. I got that."

Jude sighed in relief. "Oh good." Instead, Phi tored the wanted posters of him and Milla off. "Phi!"

"Hey, I'm only tearing down the posters, that's all. Oh, hold on." Phi pulled out a velvet blanket and covered the entire bulletin board before rolling the board away to a different area. Everyone was puzzled by what she was doing, and saw from afar that she had written something and posted it on the blanket. Some people showed up, gave Phi something, and took the hidden bulletin board away with the blanket.

When Phi arrived, she was holding a bag of money in her hands. "Uh...where did you get the money?" asked Leia.

"Easy. I sold the bulletin board."

"You what?!" exclaimed Jude. "Okay, fine! No doing anything to the bulletin board, even selling it!"

"Sure, sure," said Phi calmly. Everyone else thought that she had a hidden grin under that calm face of hers.

* * *

_Skit: Solution part 4 _

"Hey, lookie here. Another bulletin board. And this time, there's so many posters of Milla and Jude," said Alvin. "So, whqat are you going to do, Phi?"

Before Jude could remind Phi, Phi stopped him. "Alright. No destroying or selling it, I get it. Besides, I won't be the one doing it."

"What do you mean?" asked Milla. Phi walked past her, and everyone saw her talking to a huge man with a sledgehammer. They saw her handing over the bag of money she received from selling the last bulletin board. Then, the huge man started walking towards the bulletin board with Phi right behind him.

Suddenly, the man brought his sledgehammer up before bringing it down, smashing the bulletin board to pieces. Then, he walked away, completely unharmed.

A very shocked Jude turned to Phi. "You PAID him to destroy that bulletin board?!"

Alvin laughed. "Man, this is getting very interesting!"

"Note to self, try to be more specific with Phi, especially with bulletin boards," muttered Leia.

* * *

_Skit: Solution part 5 _

"Why, I do believe this is the last bulletin board in Fenmont," said Rowen, stroking his beard as the other arrived behind him.

"Okay, Alvin, stay here with Phi. The rest of us will get supplies from that store over there," said Jude. "And Phi, no destroying, no harming, no selling, and no paying anyone to break that bulletin board."

"Right, right." As soon as they left, Phi turned to Alvin with the best puppy dog eyes she's got. "Alvin-"

"Whoa there! There's no way you're making me break that board! I do like making money, but not like this. Besides, you heard Jude. No paying."

"I wasn't going to ask you to break that," said Phi, giving Alvin a black marker. "I want you to do 'something' to Jude's poster."

"Wait, why am I the one doing this?"

"Because you're a worse drawer than me."

"But you're more experienced. As much as I enjoy this idea, I refuse to get in trouble just because a little girl just asked me to draw on poor Jude's face."

Phi was expecting that to happen. "Oh, you'll go on with it. Or else.'

"Or else what?"

"I'll cry."

"...What?"

"Oh, you heard me. I'll tear up and cry like a toddler who just dropped ice cream on the sidewalk, and I'll do it in front of our friends, your mother, your worst enemies, Presa especially, and any girl you like. And when they ask why, I'll say it's because, you wouldn't give me ice cream for my birthday."

"But today's not your birthday, is it?"

"It's not. But still, go for it."

"Alright, hand me the marker." A few minutes later, Alvin was finished. "There, I'm done!"

Phi looked and saw that the Jude in the poster had a mustache and hearts all around him. "What's that?"

"It's Jude, obviously."

"You spent 15 minutes to do a lot of damage to his reputation, and THIS is what you could come up with?"

"Alvin! Phi! We're back!" called Jude. "Alvin, did Phi do anything weird?

"Nope. Perfectly fine," said Alvin, ruffling Phi's head.

"Yup." _'At least he didn't notice his picture,' _thought Phi.

* * *

Skit: Solution Part 6

"Oh, lookie here. There was another bulletin board," pointed out Leia. Before Jude could say anything, Phi pushed past him, grabbed the bulletin board, then shoved it towards the river.

"Phi!" complained Jude. "I told you-"

"No, you didn't tell me to let it drown in water," reminded Phi.

Jude sighed. "Well, at least you didn't do anything to the other bulletin board."

Before Alvin could point out what happened, Phi nudged him in the stomach, warning him. "Yeah, that's right. Phi here didn't do anything! ...Ow."

* * *

Skit: High kick

"Hey, how do you do a high-five?" asked Phi.

"Oh, easy! Like this!" replied Leia. She picked up Phi's arm and slapped her palm with her free palm. "Easy!"

"Hey, Phi? Want to do one with me?" Phi nodded before walking towards Alvin. When she was about to slap his palm, Alvin slid to the side. "Oh! Too low!' Phi tried again, but Alvin dodged again. "Too slow!" As fast as she could, Phi tried again, but Alvin moved out of the way. "Try again! Man, you are-gah!" Frustrated, Phi kicked Alvin in the shin before slapping his palm and walking away.

"Well, introducing the first high-kick in the world!" cheered Leia awkwardly as Alvin was hopping away on one foot.

* * *

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, but I'm done now! In the next chapter, it's an all-out group war vs the king! Stay tune!**


	12. The War Begins Part 1

**Hey guys! I had a lot of HW and tests this week, and probably next week too, but for now, I'll do this chapter! Also, since you guys are practically begging for another future character to come out, they will come, in a couple chapters! I won't tell who they are just yet, though, but I will tell you it's one person! **

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of XIllia, only the OCs! **

* * *

_'Wow, I never thought I'd ever get to invade King Oscar's palace. Oh wait, this is Nachtigal's palace for now. But after he's defeated, in a few years, Oscar will be elected king,' _thought Phi as she slashed through the guards. She and the others were running through the palace, trying to reach the throne room where Nachtigal was, and possibly the Lance of Kresnik.

The plan was to charge right in since Rowen revealed that there were not many guards since most of them went to prepare for the war. Therefore, the palace was completely defenceless other than the barriers and guards. Phi had only been to the palace a few times in her time, but she's never fully explored it before.

"I think it's this door!" called Jude, standing in front of a large set of royal designed doors. Phi quickly recognized the doors as the entrance to Nachtigal's throne room and readied herself.

"Okay, everyone remember the plan," announced Milla calmly. "We go inside. We force Nachtigal to answer our questions, and if he resists, we attack back until he feels like he must answer our questions, understood?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Good. Let's go!"

Jude pushed opened the doors, revealing a very large throne room that was completely dark and omnious, except for the moonlight shining down from the skies down to the windows. Sitting in the throne, was Nachtigal, with a subordinate kneeling in front of him. Last time Phi remembered, it was supposed to be all bright with the lights on, and there was a red carpet leading to the throne, and everything was clean. Phi thought that King Oscar would get a nice cleanup in the palace once he was elected.

"So you've arrived Maxwell," called back Nachtigal, not surprised. "And looking more spry than I expected after your injury."

"All to stop you," said Milla, angrily glaring at the evil king.

Nachtigal turned to his subordinate. "Go wait by the Lance. We'll obliterate those northern savages as soon as I'm finished with Maxwell." After the subordinate got up and left, Nachtigal returned and gazed at Rowen. "Illbert, will you really raise your sword against your master?"

"...My only master is Lord Cline. There is no other," replied back Rowen.

"I'm willing to forgive such insolence if you return to my side," offered Nachtigal.

"Once, I thought you had the potential to be a great king, but now I see you've become unworthy of the throne."

"Hmph. No one in this world is more worthy to sit upon this throne than I."

_'Except for King Oscar, you poor excuse of a sick king,' _thought Phi bitterly as she tried to keep her anger down. _'King Oscar is twice-no, three times the man you'll ever be! He would never use human experiments for his own desire or any other reason! He'll be a better king than you, after you're defeated!' _

"You still don't get it, do you? You lack the qualities needed to govern humanity," reminded Milla.

"Foolish girl! A king only needs one quality: birthright! He is born into his power!" announced Nachtigal confidently.

"So he can sacrifice his own people?" questioned Milla angrily.

"Of course. Again, that is my birthright."

"Oh really?" shouted Phi, staying calm. "Birthright, royalty by blood, chosen destiny, all those things are spoke by selfish, greedy, self-righteous people like you! People are born kings or queens or princes or any of those things! It's the willpower, the heart, and the well being of the people that makes one a great ruler! Anyone who thinks they're ruler of the world just because they have royal blood, can just die!"

"That's right!" agreed Milla. "Like she said, it's not the blood of a noble that makes someone the new ruler, it's the support of the people and the kind heart that makes one king. You are no king in my book or ever, Nachtigal!"

"It matters not what you say, Maxwell," replied Nachtigal, ignoring her speech. "Now, I'll extend my influence over the spirit realm as well!"

"You will control no one! No man and no spirit either!" shouted Jude.

"Foolish boy! Has Maxwell's impudence rubbed you off as well?"

"You can call me whatever you want," continued Jude. "Do you have any idea how much your ideas have tormented Rowen here? Any idea at all?!"

"Don't forget about the people you experimented on! They were YOUR people! Also innocent children were used as well! Can't you imagine the pain they were suffering from?!" yelled Phi, obviously angry.

"You people think peace is some sort of right. You are mistaken. Peace is a luxury, not a right!" argued Nachtigal. "Surrender yourselves into my service. That is your duty as my subjects!"

"...You are beyond salvation," spoke Milla finally, glaring at Nachtigal with angered, yet determined eyes.

Nachtigal finally decided it was time to end things. "I'm through wasting my time with you. Let's put an end to this right now." Raising his weapon, Nachtigal concentrated all his strength upon his weapon, and a large amount of mana started pouring in, surprising everyone and illuminating the room with purple light.

Phi, who was covering her own eyes while everyone else did the same, yelled, "Alvin! Shoot him! Now! Do it!"

Alvin, who was covering his eyes with one arm and raising his gun with the other, tried to steady his hand and aim for Nachtigal, but the light was blinding him, so he couldn't properly see him. "It's no good! I can't see!"

The light died down a bit, and everyone could finally see clearly again. "I now share all of the mana absorbed by the Lance of Kresnik," announced Nachtigal.

"Once, I believed that you and I were two friends who traveled along the same path in life," said Rowen, a sad expression on his face as he unsheathed his rapier. "However, it seems we've reached our journey's end."

"With a philosophy like that, life must be convenient," commented Alvin as he prepared to fight. "But your beliefs have become a royal pain to all of us. They're just delusions of grandeur!"

"I can't believe that someone like this could be our king!" said Leia, taking a stance. "It's time someone knocked some sense into you!"

"Jude and Milla, and everyone! I have to protect my friends!" said Elize.

"Off with his head! Off with his head!" shouted Teepo, hovering around Elize.

"I don't give a damn whether or not you live or die," started Phi, preparing herself. "But, I'll make sure, you never lay a finger on innocent people again!"

Jude slammed his fists together. "Someone needs to put a stop to your ambitions! And that would be us!"

"Prepare yourself, Nachtigal!" declared Milla.

"Now I will show you the power that will unite Rieze Maxia!" roared Nachtigal, bringing his lance down at his side.

_'Alright, let me remember something,' _thought Phi as she stood back to gather spirits for a spirit arte. _'According to Gaius and King Oscar, Nachtigal was really good at the lance and has tremendous strength, so possibly artes will do for now.' _

With a cry, both Milla and Rowen rushed forward with Alvin and Jude behind them. Elize, Leia, and Phi stood back for both support and offensive artes as they started chanting incantations. "Nachtigal!" cried Milla, bringing her sword towards Nachtigal's head, who blocked her sword with his lance.

"Milla!" called Jude, giving off a signal. Milla nodded before jumping back and both shouted in unison, "Lightning Strike!" As Jude tried to perform a Palm Strike on Nachtigal, Milla summoned a jolt of lightning that caught Nachtigal by surprise.

"You're wide open!" Rowen jabbed his rapier forward multiple times.

"Destruction!" yelled Nachtigal, slamming his sword down, launching stones towards Rowen. Rowen managed to dodge most of them, but one of the tough stones hit him in the forehead, scratching his forehead.

"Hey, stand back, old man," advised Alvin before smashing his longsword against Nachtigal, who deflected his blow with the blade of his lance. Milla rushed forward and tried to attack his vulnerable spots, but he blocked her sword with the pole of his lance.

"Massacre Arc!" cried Nachtigal, raising his lance and making Alvin and Milla fly to the air and slam down hard.

"Everyone, out of the way, please!" called Elize, surrounded by dark magical spirits. "Ignite Terror!"

"Fangs of ice, come forth! Freeze Lancer!" chanted Phi. A large dark glyph appeared in front of Elize, firing a beam of dark energy, while a portal arrived in front of Phi, launching multiple shards of ice towards Nachtigal. Jude and Rowen jumped out of the way, while Milla and Alvin laid flat on the ground to avoid the two artes.

However, Nachtigal slashed with his lance the moment the two spirit artes came into contact, and completely nullified both attacks with the large amount of mana that was stored onto his weapon. "Searing Arc!" Slicing the air, he made a arc of dark energy headed straight towards Elize.

"Watch out!" yelled Phi, pushing Elize out of the way and trying to block the arc with the blunt side of her katana, only for the arc to explode and damage Phi severely.

"Phi! Are you alright?" cried Leia, kneeling to her side and healing her wounds. The closed wound that sliced through Phi's stomach was beginning to open a little, dripping blood on the ground. Elize panicked and focused on stitching up Phi's wound once and for all.

"Air Pressure!" A circle appeared beneath Jude, Milla, and Alvin, which created a sudden burst of air which forced the three of them down to the ground with heavy pressure.

Rowen, seeing how he's the only one still standing and the least injured, readied his sword. "En garde!" Rowen brought his sword back, then dashed towards Nachtigal and plummeted his rapier towards him. Nachtigal swung his body sideways and brough his lance up to meet Rowen's rapier strike. The tip of the rapier missed Nachtigal directly, but planted two strikes on Nachtigal's arm.

Grunting, Nachtigal took a few steps back while clutching his bleeding arm. Carefully, Rowen charged in for a direct assault, but Nachtigal twisted his body and tried to stab Rowen, only to scratch his shoulder. Both men clashed with their weapons as everyone watched the two enemies.

Phi, who was fully recovered, stood up and concentrated on gathering spirits. "Don't just stand there watching! Go! Rowen needs his friends to support him! Hurry up! Milla! Jude! Alvin!"

Phi's command brought everyone to their senses and forced them back to focusing on the battle. "Right!" In a flash, Jude appeared behined Nachtigal, catching him and Rowen off guard. "Talon Storm!" Jude rapidly punched and kicked Nachtigal's back, forcing him to spew out blood from his mouth. Jude retreated when Nachtigal tried to stab him using his lance.

"Gh!" With a sudden cry, Nachtigal had to endure the pain in his arm when he used to block some bullets from Alvin's gun, rendering it useless. Before Milla or Alvin could get close, they were pushed back by Nachtigal's angry and powerful aura that send a powerful wind blowing in. "Tyrant's Spear!" The blade of his spear suddenly extended and radiating a purple aura, making the tip of the spear sharper and more stronger.

"Be careful! Try not to get near that spear!" warned Milla, standing back. However, she spoke too soon as Nachtigal concentrated a lot of mana and energy into the spear, making everyone wonder what he was up to.

Nachtigal leaped into the air, forcing everyone to get into a defensive position. "Oh! Heaven and earth shall detain thee! Demon's Lance!" At that instant, Nachtigal threw his mana-charged lance towards the ground, where it would result in a huge explosion that would kill anyone.

"O merciless conflagration, burn the very soulds of my enemies! Crimson Flare!" shouted Phi as fast as she could. A huge sphere of fire headed straight towards the lance and engulfed in a pillar of fire. However, since the two were too strong, it caused a blast and knocked everyone away, causing dust to spread through the whole room.

Nachtigal was getting up on his own, and wiping away any dust using his good arm while trying to find his lance. "Damn it...where is it? Where is my we-"

**SPLAT. **Like a flash of lightning, the sharp tip of Rowen's rapier piereces through Nachtigal's ribcage. The moment it stabbed through the chest, the rapier felt like a thousand rose throns, tearing the king's body from within.

With a wind spirit arte, Milla blew all of the dust away, and everyone was surprised to see Rowen stab his old friend in the chest. Rowen pulled out his blood rapier before stepping back. Nachtigal fell to his knees and grunted in pain as he crawled to reach his throne.

"You fools...If you kill me, then you will be unwittingly handing Rashugal over to Gaius..."

Bangs covering her eyes, Phi unsheathed her katana and started walking towards Nachtigal, but Rowen stopped her with one arm. He glanced at her, and the message she got was ,'I got this.' Nodding her head, Phi sheathed her weapon and let Rowen handle this. "Regardless, as king, you must answer for your crimes," reminded Rowen.

"Nonsense!" gasped Nachtigal, now placing a hand on his throne. "With the Lance of Kresnik, I shall have absolute power!"

"That's enough!" shouted Milla. "Mankind wasn't meant to wield such power. It would destroy the world as we know it. And you as well."

"Wait," called Rowen, stopping Milla before she could even think of killing Nachtigal. He stepped forward, a few inches away from Nachtigal, who was sitting on his throne. "Nachtigal, a country without its king is doomed to chaos. You have turned away from the responsibilities you must bear. We have both turned away. King Nachtigal."

Nachtigal's eyes widen with realization, before relaxing and pondering onto the situation. "Illbert, you're not saying that I should..."

Phi got worried. Something wasn't right about this situation. From the story she read, something was supposed to happen after Nachtigal was injured, but what? Whatever it was, it left a horrible scar on Rowen's back, and Nachtigal was killed.

"Let us build a new future for Rashugal. Together," said Rowen, offering his hand.

"You mean...you would bear the burden of my crimes as well?"

"It's of no consequence."

Phi's eyes widen with realization. _'Oh no! Now I remember! In a few seconds, blocks of ice are going to kill Nachtigal and injure Rowen really badly!' _she thought frantically. "LOOK OUT!" she screamed, tackling Rowen to the ground as fast and hard as she could.

Suddenly, as Phi predicted, sharp blocks of ice flew from the sky stabbed through Nachtigal's body. The ice shards that were supposed to aim for Rowen hit the ground near Rowen's face, meaning he was safe from fate's demise. However, Nachtigal was not so lucky and died from the surprise assault.

"Nachtigal!" cried Rowen, extending a hand to his deceased friend.

"Who is it?! Who's there?!" shouted Jude as he and the others searched around for the enemy.

"No, they must be after the Lance of Kresnik!" said Milla, suddenly realizing the enemy's objection.

Phi stood up first and offered her hand. "Snap out of it, Rowen! I'm sorry to say this, but you can mourn for him later! We have to go! Now!"

"...Yes, you're right. We must hurry," agreed Rowen quietly as he took Phi's hand and helped himself up. The group quickly left the throne room, and transported themselves to a different room using a lotus ring. Soon, they arrived in a large dark room like the throne room, but it was completely empty. No Lance of Kresnik.

"We're too late," muttered Milla as she examined the room.

"Are you sure it was even here?" wondered Leia.

"Nachtigal absorbed the Lance's energy before fighting us," explained Jude. "It had to have been here."

"If the Lance made it outside, it could be anywhere by now," suggested Rowen. "Let us leave the palace."

Once the group made it outside, they were confronted by two guards. "Halt! Identify yourselves!" ordered one of the guards.

"Uh-oh. This isn't good," mumbled Alvin.

"Oh no, they wouldn't spot intruders! Not at all!" Phi spoke sarcastically to Jude. (See the skit to understand)

"Hey, hold on," one of the guards said to his ally before turning to Rowen. "Aren't you Chief Illbert?"

"That is correct."

"I have a message! Let me through!" ordered a guard that was running towards the palace. "Auj Oule's army is on the march! The enemy's force is said to exceed over fifty thousand men!"

Everyone seemed shocked and worried over this news. "The war...it's already started," said Jude sadly.

"Fifty thousand? From Sapstrath?" questioned one of the guards, astonished.

"No! They're coming from north of Fenmont!" corrected the messanger. "They're in Fezebel Marsh!"

"Impossible! How do they intend to march across such impassable terrain?" asked Rowen, outraged. "The spirit climes have stopped shifting!"

"Chief Illbert," spoke the messenger. "We are unable to decipher their method of transportation."

"This is bad, isn't it?" said Jude. "All of our soldiers are concentrated in Fort Gandala and at sea."

"At this point, we may not have time to move our troops into position," murmured Rowen.

"You need not worry," assured the messenger. "Deputy Chief of Staff Gilland foresaw this attack. He is transporting our new weapon to the battlefield as we speak."

"Soldier, who ordered you to speak this message?"

"The Deputy Chief of Staff himself. Is something wrong?"

"No, you are dismissed." The messenger saluted before running into the palace with the two guards following after him.

"Gilland is up to something," said Milla.

"Whatever it is, we must hurry to Fezebel Marsh at once," reminded Rowen. Soon, the team finally arrived in the wet marshes where the battlefield was taking place. They approached a camp and was surrounded by guards.

"Identify yourselves. State your names, ranks, and divisions," ordered one of the guards.

Rowen stepped forwards and answered, 'I am Rowen Illbert. Chief of Staff, Rashugal Army."

"_The _Illbert? As in, the Conductor?"

'Correct. I wish to be briefed at once regarding our troop strength and deployment."

The guards relaxed and stepped aside. 'Yes sir! Please, proceed!"

Once inside one of the large tents at the camps, everyone but Alvin, who was leaning against a wood pillar, gathered around in a table with a large map that covered the whole Fezebel Marsh. "This table creates a tactical diagram of the battle by reading signals from the soldiers' Lilium Orbs," explained Rowen.

"Hey, how come this one looks different?" asked Leia, pointing to three strange chess pieces.

"That division is taking part in a special operation being led by the Deputy Chief of Staff himself," one of the soldiers answered for her. "Agria of the Chimeraid attempted to block them, but it appeared they broke through. Chief of Staff Gilland should arrive at the operation site a little after 1300 hours. We've been given no details, although we hear this operation will turn the tide of battle in one fell swoop. We've been ordered to concentrate as many troops as possible around that site when the operation commences.

"With this route, his destination must be here, correct?" asked Rowen, pointing to a spot in the map.

"Yes, sir. Precisely. I should have expected nothing less than the Conductor."

Rowen had a grave expression on his face. "I do not like where this is heading."

"Yes. No doubt he plans to use the Lance of Kresnik," agreed Milla. "Yet why did he leave his army in the dark?"

"Maybe because if he did tell his army, they would object, at least some of them. Or maybe he plans to wipe anyone in his way, including his own soldiers," said Phi, still trying to remember the Lance of Kresnik's true purpose.

"I don't think that's the case."

"Do you think we can catch up to them before they use the Lance?" asked Elize.

"I don't know. I hope so," said Jude.

"I stoled the key required to activate the Lance. I entrusted it to Ivar," Milla told Rowen.

"We figured that would be enough to stop anyone from using it," said Jude.

"Nevertheless, it has been deployed, and they are likely readying to use it. That can only mean one thing," said Rowen. "They may have created a new key. How is the Auj Oule army marching across the marshes, though? I don't believe Ragnome ever arrived."

"Are you aware of the boosters Auj Oule have developed?" questioned the soldier as Phi watched Alvin leave so suddenly. Everyone turned to Teepo in surprise.

"Hey! Quit staring at me like that! I hate being objectified!" cried out Teepo.

"The enemy is using boosters to amplify their mana output and alter the spirit clime in their immediate area," explained the soldier.

"In other words, they used mana to summon vast amounts of earth spirits and force the spirit climes into Ragnome," summarized Rowen. "They've actually changed the seasons. Their strategy is brilliant. One only Wingul could have conceived."

"How is Rashugal responding?" asked Jude to the soldier.

"We, too, have boosters."

'So, you issued one to every soldier, and assigned one man in every squad with the job of altering the spirit climes," said Rowen.

"Yes, sir. Exactly as you said.

"If that's the case, then this is Rowen's turf. He's an expert in earth spirits," said Milla.

Rowen nodded his head in agreement. "We have no time. We must intercept Gilland's division." With that said, everyone left the tent to strategize.

* * *

_Skit: Suspicion _

"Phi, I must thank you for saving my life," said Rowen. "But, how did you know those icicles were going to hit me?"

"My instincts are very sharp, but they jump out of the blue sometimes. We're lucky they kicked in on time, or you would have been seriously injured."

"I doubt that," said Milla. "I think you knew the icicles were coming. Not even the most powerful person could intercept that surprise attack."

"Oh please, do you really think I'm still suspicious? If you don't think my instincts are high, then what other explanation is there?" challenged Phi.

"That you're a spirit. As a matter of fact, I did sense the power of a Great Spirit's power being used."

Everyone groaned once again. Seriously, how many times has she said that already? She might as well have broke the record of asking if Phi was a spirit or not. "Okay, let's say I'm a spirit. What'll you do if I am one?" asked Phi.

"Ah, so you are a spirit."

"Milla, that doesn't confirm she is a spirit," said Jude.

"You didn't answer my question, Milla," said Phi. "I ask, what will you do if I am a spirit?"

"Then it'll give me more reason to suspect you. Then, I would demand that you give me answers or I use force."

"Yikes," said Alvin.

"You can ask all you want, but I'm not a spirit," said Phi.

"Hmm...someday, I will find proof, and then ask myself."

"Milla's pretty persistent, if you ask me," said Jude, sighing.

"Jude, you just figured that out right now?" asked Leia, annoyed.

* * *

_Skit: We won't get in trouble! _

"Hey, since we-or rather, the enemy, killed Nachtigal, I'm pretty sure it would cause an uproar if everyone in the palace found out," reminded Phi as she and her friends were running out of the palace.

"You're right, what should we do?" asked Leia.

"I suggest we knock out some guards, take their armor, and pretend to be guards," suggested Phi.

"Again with the force?" sighed Rowen, shaking his head.

"I agree with Rowen. Phi, you've caused too much trouble today. First, you knocked out two guys, then you attack scientists in the laboratory, then, you used countless attempts to destroy the bulletin boards, and you almost died of blood loss," said Jude, summarizing it all up.

"First off, if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have gotten inside," reminded Phi. "Second, I told you before, but I attack those scientists out of self-defense. Third, I was trying not to attract attention to both you and Milla by destroying those wanted poster boards. And fourth, I would have been fine with that sliced stomach of mine. I could have healed it myself."

"The point is, all we have to do is lie low and avoid any guards," said Jude. "I mean, the guards aren't going to spot any intruders or anything." (Jinxing!)

* * *

_Skit: Peeping Toms_

"It's probably this door!" shouted Milla as she and her friends were trying to find the throne room to lead to Nachtigal. She slammed opened a door, only to reveal an empty door. "Drats! Everyone, split up to find the throne room!"

Milla, Rowen, and Leia ran off in a different direction, while Alvin, Jude, Elize, and Phi ran to the opposite directions. After Elize and Phi searched through a large room, they found Alvin and Jude looking at something near a wall.

"What are you doing?" asked Elize. Alvin motions Elize and Phi to come closer. Elize saw a small hole in the wall and peeked inside before running back with a blush on her cheeks.

"Bazongas!" cheered Teepo happily. Alvin made a 'shh' motion before going back to peeking in the hole. Phi got curious of what was going on and what bazongas was, and tapped Jude, who fell backwards and completely in stone. Then, Phi looked into the hole he was peeking in, and saw a woman behind a screen. Of course, it didn't show her appearance, but rather her shadow figure behind the screen. She was apparently changing clothes.

Indignantly, Phi stomped her foot on Alvin's foot, forcing him to gape in shock and pain. "You sick pervert!" hissed Phi angrily. "We don't have time for this!" Then, she turned to the frozen Jude and kicked him so hard, he groaned in pain. "You too, Jude! I hought you were a better man than this!"

"T-that's right!" agreed Elize. She watched as Phi drag both Jude and Alvin away, who were both crying anime tears of sadness.

* * *

**Okay! I'm finished, and I'm about to eat, so goodnight people!**


	13. The War Begins Part 2

**Hey there, guys! Soon, another future child will come, and you guys will have to be patient! I'm not telling when, but it will be in a couple chapters! Anyways, read and review!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

'Aw man! It's raining! Now I have to dry my coat out later!" complained Alvin as he and his group ran down a hill. Sounds of clashing weapons, screams, and battle cries filled the Fezebel Marsh, and even a little kid would know that a war has started.

"You're more worried about some rain than a war going on?" questioned Leia, annoyed.

"Everyone, stay close to me," ordered Rowen, who stopped running. He glanced around to see if there were any enemies nearby, and once the coast was cleared, he twisted the top of the booster he had, activating the machine before throwing it down to the ground. The drenched ground swallowed the booster completely before showing an earth type glyph that quickly vanished. Nothing seemed to happen, but there was some mist around due to the rain.

"It's hard to see anything. The enemy could be anywhere," said Jude, looking around.

"Maybe we should try to find a safer route," suggested Alvin.

"No, we don't have time for that. We just need to charge straight through."

"Hold on! That sounds like suicide!" cried Teepo.

"We'll be okay! Jude says so," assured Leia.

"Don't be afraid," said Milla, calmly. "We have nothing to fear but failure. The fate of humanity and spiritkind hangs in the balance."

"Nice! I'll have to write that one down!" said Leia, impressed.

"Enemies coming! Get ready!" warned Phi, in a fighting stance. Everyone turned and saw some soldiers and an armored monster coming their way before unsheathing their weapons, prepared to fight.

"Flints turn to blade, Sharpness!"

"Haste!" Together, both Leia and Elize had enough time to cast some supporting spells on Phi and Jude that were in the front-lines, increasing their speed and attack power. Letting out a battle cry, Jude leapt towards one of the soldiers, Phi following just behind. Jude threw a punch at the soldier's face, but he blocked it with his shield. However, Phi spun from behind, slid on the mud, getting her closer to the enemy, and sweep kicked, making him fall. Before anyone else could react, Phi grabbed him with both feet and with a cry, threw him towards another soldier, who cried out in surprise.

"Phi!" called Jude, rushing towards the fallen soldiers who were quickly trying to get up. Both shouted in unison, "Demonic Swallow Kick!" Jude performed a jumping upward double kick on both of the soldiers, sending them up the air. Jude jumped back, allowing Phi to unsheath her katana and finish off the soldiers with a Demon Fang. Both dodged in time to avoid a fatal blow from a huge armored creature with sharp horns, like a bull.

"I could try to kill it with all my strength, but even so, I'd be exhausted," said Phi, cracking her knuckles after sheathing her sword. "Plus, there are these-" Dodges a sword from a soldier and kicks him back. "-Guys to deal with!"

"I know!" said Jude, evading multiple thrusts from a dagger-wielding foe.

Seeing the situation going bad, Rowen turned to Alvin. "Alvin! We must eliminate that terrible beast!"

"Way ahead of you, old man," said Alvin, loading his gun with bullets. "Fatal Circle!" Rowen jumps into the air, twirling while tossing some daggers to the ground, trapping the soldiers and the armored creature in place. A magic glyph suddenly flowed in from within the circle created from dgagers and started damaging the enemies, allowing Alvin to see their weak points and shoot them.

"Rain down the breath of life, Healing Circle!" chanted Milla. A green field appeared below Phi and Jude, rejuvenating their strength. "Let's go! We don't have much time!"

Pretty soon, the team were running past the soldiers that were fighting each other, mud and blood puddles slooshing near their feet and the rest of the battlefield. Suddenly, a Rashugal soldier who had just defeated his opponent, started charging towards Milla with his lance.

Phi quickly saw this, grabbed Alvin's gun, and started shooting at the Rashugal soldier, making him stop and block with his shield, before handing the gun back at Alvin. "You know, you could have asked me to shoot him," said Alvin, a bit annoyed.

"I'm sorry," apologized Phi, a bit hasty.

Jude jumped in front of Milla, protecting her. "What are you doing?! We're on the same side!"

"Save it! We've received orders directly from Deputy Chief of Staff Gilland!" shouted the Rashugal soldier as three more soldiers ran behind him. "Conductor Illbert has defected to the enemy and must be stopped by all means neccessary, including lethal force! We won't let you destroy the cornerstone of Rashugal's strategy!"

Alvin, Phi, Leia, and Jude ran forward while the others stood back for support. Alvin leaned back in time before a lance could strike his face, and stabbed his sword forward, which was blocked by his opponent's hard shield. Then, with a rigid lifting of his arm, he slashed his sword so hard it left a scratch on the shield. Leia pounched on her opponent while spinning around, twirling her staff multiple times and making her opponent forced to block with his weapon. Phi nimbly dodged several thrusts from a knife-wielding foe before leaping back, then charging right in with her katana unsheathed. Jude was trying to break one soldier's defenses starting with the huge shield.

Thinking Phi needs some help, Jude ran to her side, ignoring his opponent for now. "Hey!" called Phi, sheathing her katana and cracking her knuckles. Together, both charged towards the knife-wielding soldier, shouting, "Wyrm Crush!" Phi ran in first, bombarding the soldier in the stomach with multiple punches, then stepped back and watched Jude dodged some knives thrown at him before he performed an uppercut, defeating the soldier.

With a loud battle cry, the soldier Jude had previously fought charged towards him from behind using a sword. Phi pushed Jude out of the way, quickly unsheathed her sword, moved in, passed the sword and shield due to her short stature, and performed a vertical outward slash that finished him off. "T-thanks, Phi," said Jude, a bit stunned.

**BANG! **Finishing off his enemy with a few bullets, Alvin ran to Leia's side, who still had trouble defeating her opponent. Leia saw Alvin approaching and giving her a hand signal, so she nodded back. "Are you ready?" shouted Leia. Once Alvin arrived, both shouted in unison, "Impact Cross!" Both slid past each other with their weapons, creating a cross and impacting the enemy at once.

"Whew!" sighed Jude, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Then, he turned and saw more Rashugal soldiers approaching them, and there was more armored units this time. "Oh no!"

"Everyone, out of the way!" ordered Milla, surrounded by small, flurry wind spirits. "Turbulence!"

"Blessed Drops!"

"Negative Gate!" With Milla, Rowen, and Elize's spirit artes together, it created a large amount of mana power heading straight towards the large group of Rashugal soldiers, a combination of wind, water, and darkness spirits. Luckily, Alvin and the others ran out of the way, or they would have been caught in the blast.

Alvin whistled. "Whew! Close call! Let's scram!" Everyone nodded in agreement before running out of the bloody area where there were still soldiers currently fighting each other. Soon, they encountered some Auj Oule soldiers instead of Rashugal soldiers this time, and the battle commenced.

"Aah! Too many enemies!" cried Teepo as his owner, Elize, was chanting healing spells towards Rowen.

"Darn! It's such a pain! Not only do we have to deal with Rashugal soldiers, but Auj Oule ones as well!" complained Alvin as Phi was healing his little wounds with her weak healing power. "Can this get any worse?"

"Don't say things like that! You'll only jinxed us!" warned Phi, who had finished healing him.

"She's kinda right, you know!" grunted Leia, pushing back a soldier before sending him flying with one smack of her staff. "We already have too much in our hands, wouldn't want any more trouble."

"Heh, you're sounding like it's my fault," chuckled Alvin before standing up and shooting.

"Now's now the time, guys! Focus!" called Jude before jabbing a soldier with several kicks and knocking him flat on the clashed swords with a skilled swordsman, but ultimately came out victorious, Rowen easily dodged some slashes before counteracting with his rapier, and Leia and Phi worked together while fighting off a small group of soldiers surrounding the two girls.

"Crush Trigger!" both cried out in unison. First, Phi does a powerful fierce hooking slash with her katana, and then Leia steps in and smashed her staff against the ground, making large heaps of rock spread around her in a circle, defeating the foes surrounding her and her partner. After taking care of the soldiers in that area, they moved on as fast as they could.

"Gh-!" grunted Milla, clutching her bleeding arm after being struck in that arm. Once again, the others found themselves in a different area, with some more Rashugal soldiers. They weren't sure which soldiers were worse, Rashugal or Auj Oule.

"Milla!" Phi turned and in a second, struck a soldier's jaw with her knee, then kicked him in the neck with the heel of her boot before forcing him down on the ground. Then, she grabbed a soldier's arm, flipped him over, leap into the air, and dived downwards, landing on top of him.

"I appreciate the help," said Milla as Elize rushed over and healed her wounded arm.

"No problem. I promise I won't let you or the others die," promised Phi as she stood guarded in front of Milla and Elize in case more enemies approached.

"Milla, are you alright?" asked Elize.

"Yes, I'm fine. Now, let's continue." Milla repaid Phi by charging past her, and swiftly stabbed forward at a long range with quick speed, stabbing a soldier in the heart. Both she and Phi leaned each other's backs against each other. "Phi, I leave my back to you."

"Of course!" The two of them turned round and round, cutting down the soldiers that continuously appeared in front of them, perfectly in sync, as if they predicted each others' movements. As they were fighting back-to-back, Milla felt a surge of courage of trust deep inside now that Phi was fighting with her. She wondered if she should really trust Phi and if her having a large amount of mana was just a coinicidence.

"Milla! Phi!" shouted Jude and Elize as they rushed in the scene, helping and finishing off the rest of the soldiers surrounding them. Soon, Leia, Rowen, and Alvin came along and helped out. As soon as they were finished, they scrambled out of there as soon as they could.

Everyone was exhausted. Who knows how long they've been at this? An hour? Two? Three? Point was, they were tired, and there was so many damned soldiers in their way! If only battles could be won easily if one asked politely, in this case, now.

"Aqua Laser!" hollered Phi, bringing her arms down. A magic glyph hovered in front of her, and a large blast of water shot from the flyph, knocking back several soldiers.

"Hey, you should take it easy, kiddo. Wouldn't want to have you fainting during the battle," cautioned Alvin, standing next to Phi as he shot his bullets at the enemy.

"Don't...care...I've been in worse situations like this," panted Phi before gathering up more water spirits. "Besides, I promised I wouldn't let any of you die-!"

"Even so, how can you accomplish your promise when you're tired?" asked Milla, who had kneeled down to rest for a bit.

"She's right, you should rest," said Jude before running towards an enemy.

"No, last time I did, people died."

"Oh? Just what kind of world are you living?" asked Alvin in a joking tone.

"...One you could describe as Hell." More soldiers rushed towards the group with a courageous shout, and seeing how Jude, Leia, and Rowen needed help, Milla ran foward to aid them.

"Arrivederci!" Milla unleased the wide area wind attribute spirit arte she had prepared towards the soldiers. Tgether with Leia, they danced like leaves at the mercy of the wind and counterattacked. Elize and Phi concentrated on healing spells, and since Phi was not a very skilled healer and mainly focused on offensive artes, Elize was a better anf faster healer than her.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted Jude, gasping for breath. Not needing to be told twice, everyone ran for it to avoid fighting anymore than they needed to.

A few minutes later, they found a place to rest for a bit and sat down, exhausted. "Just...how many guys...did we beat?" panted Leia.

"About a lot," said Phi.

"That's not really specific," said Jude. Suddenly, loud sounds could be heard from a very far distance, along with screams and slicing sounds.

"Wait, is that...the Chimeriad?" questioned Rowen, gazing at a far distance.

"What?" Milla stood up immediantly, and saw Presa, Jiao, and Wingul finishing off their opponents in an instant. "Everyone, let's move!"

"We're gonna fight again?" whined Alvin, now standing up. He sulky followed behind the others as they ran ahead of him. In no time, they appeared before the Chimeriad, who did not look surprised to see them.

"So you've come, Maxwell," voiced Wingul, not impressed.

"It appears we must face on the battlefield once again. What a sad end to this tale," spoke Jiao sadly.

_'Okay...Wingul and Presa, and that Jiao person? I might have heard the Gaius in my world mention how he died giving him a chance to escape,' _thought Phi. _'I should probably keep him alive for now.' _

"Thanks for wasting our time in that search in the mountains," thanked Presa to Alvin sarcastically.

"My pleasure," said Alvin.

"Have you taken out Gilland?" asked Jude.

"I don't have to answer that," replied Wingul coldly.

"Then let's change the subject. Step aside and let us pass," ordered Milla calmly.

Presa chuckled. "I don't think so."

"We will destroy the Lance. With it gone, Auj Oule's victory is assured," promised Milla, trying to reason with them once more. "Why keep us from our task?"

"It is the will of His Highness," answered Jiao firmly.

"This battle is merely a stepping stone toward our true goal," said Wingul.

"But it is an unnecessary step, one that could cost you your lives," argued Rowen. "Who would be left to support your king?"

"His Highness can look after himself," said Presa.

"Unlike some people, he would never fight feebly from the rear," added Wingul.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" wondered Rowen.

"Don't play dumb, Chief Illbert. You were meant to lead, not hide. It was your duty to fight, not carry the rear. Nachtigal became a tyrant because of your inaction. Your only recourse was to stain your hands with his blood."

"Word spreads fast," commented Alvin.

_'To be more accurate, Rowen never killed Nachtigal. Whoever fired those icicles killed him,' _thought Phi to herself.

"That wasn't Rowen's fault," defended Jude. "Nachtigal was responsible for his own actions."

"Do not pass the blame," Wingul scolded. "Individual fault is a petty thing when weighed against the good of a nation. The people need a leader to guide them. Otherwise, they will go astray."

"Rowen is fully capable of handling that," said Jude, turning to the older man.

"...It is not that simple," said Rowen sadly looking down on the muddy ground. "I am just a military strategist. I'm unworthy of the throne."

"But our king is," said Jiao.

"And he has seen the path he must take to lead the people," added Presa.

"The Lance lies on that path," revealed Wingul, pointing to the path behind him. "We will take it and add it to his power!"

"Don't make me say it again," warned Milla. "We won't hand over the Lance of Kresnik no matter what your reasons are!"

"And I won't let you interfere with Milla's-with Maxwell's mission!" promised Jude, getting into a fighting stance with everyone else.

Mustering all of his strength, Wingul was soon surrounded by a glowing white aura, that quickly dispersed and increased his fighting capacities, also changing his hair spiky white. "(Hmph! It's time to end this!)" he declared in his native language.

The moment the battle started, everyone split up into groups. Or more specifically, they randomly chose their opponents because they had no choice in the matter. Rowen and Wingul were locked in a deadly sword duel with Milla helping out her comrade, Presa was casting water spells to drown out Alvin and Jude, and Leia, Phi, and Elize had to face off against the big bad wolf, Jiao.

"(Illbert! Maxwell! Your graves will be in this battlefield, right here and now!)" roared Wingul as he slashed his sword several times in random directions while Rowen skillfully blocked every attack.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but I assure you, we will not lose!" shouted Milla, taking the offensive.

"Better be careful. Wouldn't get all 'wet' now, would we?" said Presa, almost in a seductive tone as she flipped the pages of her tome.

"Now that's not very nice," said Alvin as he stood back and fired bullets which Presa easily dodged.

"Like you're one to talk!" retorted Presa. "Aqua Geyser!" A magic glyph appeared before Presa, firing horizontally at Jude and Alvin, who ducked in time.

"Raging Blast!" In a huge leap, Jude appeared before Presa and punched at her, and when the fist collided to her body, it exploded, but didn't make a huge one. Presa who grimaced in pain, returned the favor by kicking Jude in the face much faster.

"Child, please return," pleaded Jiao. "It's dangerous here."

"No! I won't!' cried Elize, shaking her head frantically. "I won't go back to you!"

"I heard from Jude what the people of Hamil have been treating Elize! How could you let that happen!" shouted Leia, angrily clutching her staff. "If anything, I think you're a pedophile!"

"This does not involve both you and that girl. Please, return back to me, and none of this shall ever happen," Jiao begged again.

"If you let us pass, then that's a different story. But you're not going to let us, no?" questioned Phi.

"...Very well. I do not like to hurt children, but so be it!" said Jiao, charging up towards Phi first. He raised up his hammer with a loud cry before bringing it down, smashing a huge hole in the ground.

However, Phi jumped into the air on time, above Jiao. "Whirlwind Snap!" Just before she could perform a roundhouse kick to his face, Jiao grabbed hold of her foot, and threw her towards some trees nearby. But, Phi somersaulted and used the tree she was about to crash into as a launching pod before launching herself towards Jiao, managing to karate chop his shoulder before stopping in midair near a tree. She launched off the tree using both feet and aimed to strike at Jiao once again, but Jiao predicted this and punched her straight in the stomach, sending her a few meters back.

Leia swung her staff at Jiao several times, but even she was no match for his enormous strength. Still, at least she was trying her best and buying time as much as she could. Phi stood up in pain, but endured in and unsheathed her sword, before swiftly getting behind Jiao. With his instincts, Jiao turned around and swung his hammer at the same side Phi was about to stab with her katana, and since Jiao had more strength, he knocked Phi back.

"O disturbing power now unleashed, mete thy judgement upon the evil before me...Violent Pain!" chanted Elize. Just below Jiao, a violet colored glyph appeared, and several tendrils of dark energy rose into the air before curving down towards Jiao, forcing the big man to defend using his strong, thick arms.

As soon as the spikes of darkness disappeared, Leia took this chance to strike. "Staff Rain!" She leaped into the air before harrying Jiao with countless rapid strikes with her staff in the stomach.

With a grunt, Jiao coughed up a little blood, before raising up his weapon above his head. "Devil's Maw!" He crashed his hammer down at the ground, creating a fissure that released an upward burst of flame and sent Leia and Elize flying, then straight to the ground.

Both girls struggled to stand up after that strong arte, but it was a bit difficult due to the previous injuries they had from their last few battles with some soldiers. As Jiao walked towards them to finish them off, but when he looked at the injured Elize, his face was clouded with sorrow. Just then, he felt a sudden presence behind him and turned his head to see Phi right behind him.

"Too slow."

With a swift blow, Phi stabbed Jiao in the upper shoulder, pulled her katana out, and jumped back to escape, but Jiao grabbed her arm. "I won't let you escape!" he coughed out.

"Flints turn to blades! Sharpness!" shouted Leia, extending her arm out as if reaching for something. Jiao was a little off-guard to sense Phi's attack power increase, but that made him cost something. While Jiao was distracted, his grip on Phi loosen a bit, but it was enough for Phi to kick Jiao in the face. It didn't seem much, but it was enough to make him release her and return to Leia and Elize's sides before helping them up.

Meanwhile, Rowen and Milla were still having trouble trying to beat Wingul, but he was simply too fast for them to counterattack. "(Gale Slash!)" hollered Wingul, slashing his sword so fast, it sent a strong gust towards the two.

"Hunt the sinful and avenge the fallen! Arrivederci!" chanted Milla. A circle of wind and petals blow Wingul into the air, giving Rowen a chance to strike back. But, Wingul regained his composture and sliced at Rowen, who blocked with his rapier.

"(Sonic Blast!)" Still in midair, Wingul slashed at Rowen, then thrusted his sword forward like a rapier, successfully stabbing Rowen in the shoulder.

"Rowen stumbled back, but Milla caught him on time. "Stand back this time, Rowen. I'll take it from here." She turned and face Wingul while steadying her blade. "Tiger Blade!" She charged forward and brought her sword upwards, which Wingul easily blocked. Then, Milla slid her sword away from Wingul's sword and performed a powerful turning upward slash of her sword, catching Wingul a bit off-guard, but only for a second.

That one second was enough for Rowen. "Fangs of ice, roar forth! Freeze Lance!" Using his mana, he created a portal and started firing multiple shards of ice at Wingul, who jumped back to avoid them all. Milla leaped towards him and jabbed her sword forward, only managing a scratch, though. But, Wingul's next move was more stronger, for he made a stationary vertical-aimed quickdraw slash that nearly took Milla's head off.

"Rowen! I leave the rest to you!" shouted Milla, jumping back. At the moment Milla stepped back, Rowen stepped in front, his rapier glimmering, even during the rainstorm. In half a second later, the battle bwteen tacticians was like twirling gusts of winds.

Blade in hand, Wingul, the black tactician, launches. What meets him is a silver thrust. If the dashing Wingul is a raging wind of seething anger, the responding former Rashugal tactician is a divine wind of tranquility. Wingul parries the thrust of the high speed rapier with his sword. During their clashes of a thrusting rapier-user and a slicing sword wielder, Wingul closes the distance himself and doesn't let Rowen to move forward.

Wingul's temper is like a raging fire. He closes in with each blow, no thoughts of stopping. Then, having repelled the sword aimed straight for his heart, Rowen closes in with superior speed like his rapier. Wingul gritted his teeth in frustration as the battle commenced. There are no openings to his opponent's attacks, and even worse, his thrusts increase in speed and power without limit!

"Splash!" cried out Presa, causing a series of water streams to drop down on Jude. Jude got knocked back by Alvin's feet, and Alvin helped him up.

"Alright, switch!" ordered Alvin before charging towards Presa with his sword while Jude was casting Healer on himself. "Moonlight Demon!" Alvin quickly slashed upwards, then gave a heavy blow downwards, but Presa defended with a magical barrier, surprising Alvin.

"Guardian Field!" The field surrounded Alvin made him ache in pain as he clutched his stomach. He made a resistence by slashing at Presa, but she easily stepped aside. "Queen's Torrent!" Even Jude had to feel bad for Alvin when he was being kicked right in the spot where the sun don't shine. Then, Presa kicked Alvin away, leading him near Jude's feet.

"Ow...now my coat's all stained with mud," complained Alvin as he was being helped out by Jude.

"You're seriously more worried about your coat than your life?" asked Jude, sweatdropping. Just then, a stream of water splashed Alvin away. "...Never mind. Coil!" Bracing his knuckles, Jude increased his attack power before rushing towards Presa and started fighting her.

Alvin was back on the battlefield, all drenched up and aiming his gun at Presa. "Jude!" Both nodded in agreement. "Inferno Dance!" Jude leaped into the air and brought his leg downards while Alvin shot flaming bullets, damaging Presa.

Presa spat out blood, but there was a fire fueling inside of her as she rapidly turned all the pages of her tome. Alvin's eyes widen with realization, then, he tossed Jude on his shoulder before running. "Hey! What are you doing?!" shouted Jude, trying to twist out of his hold.

"Oh, shut up, idiot! What she's doing next is really dangerous!" shouted back Alvin. Jude turned and saw Presa move her tome towards the two. Multiple orbs of light surrounded her and began firing at the two. Her attack is a rain without pause. The shooting lights are no different than a shooting raid. Each orb is a deadly attack, but Presa is shooting them like rain.

Loud thumps could be heard from another section of the area. In fact, Phi was fighting hand-to-hand combat with Jiao while Leia and Elize were casting support spells to boost her stats. Phi was trying to stomp on Jiao's face, but Jiao blocked with his muscles, forcing Phi to back away and land on her feet. Phi leaped again and tried to kick more faster, but Jiao kept blocking her movements. Phi landed on the ground with both hands before launching off and striking Jiao with a harder kick, but he shoved her foot off.

Leia stepped in and allowed Phi to rest as she faced off Jiao in close-range. "Cerberus Strike!" Leia twirled her staff around and attempted to strike three times, but Jiao grabbed hold of her staff and knocked her away with one, but not too strong, blow from his hammer. Jiao whistled, and a pack of wolves arrived at his side. They seemed to understood their master's intention, as they started running towards the injured Leia, wanting to devour her.

However, Phi stood in their way, and did something unexpected that surprised even Jiao. Phi exhaled some breath, and let it out a high-pitched scream from the top of her lungs, emitting sound waves all over. That technique, the one only Phi could use, was War Cry, and it was so loud, everyone had to cover their ears, and all the wolves ran away in fear.

"T-thanks, Phi," thanked Leia, gasping for breath. She turned her head and saw Alvin and Jude running away from whatever magic Presa's shooting at them. "Oh no!"

Phi saw what Leia was seeing and gritted her teeth. Not only does she have to figure out a way to knock out Jiao, but she also has to keep everyone, including two nutter heads from getting killed! "Go! Hurry! I'll handle this!" assured Phi. "And don't argue!"

Leia nodded in agreement before rushing to help out Jude and Alvin. Phi faced her enemy again, but did not expect him to be close already! Phi, out of desperation, leapt back, but it was a bit too late.

"Resounding Surge!" With all of his might, Jiao brought down his hammer once more, creating huge pillars of rough stone towards Phi, injurying her. Heck, he even made a crevasse, and luckily, Phi managed to grab onto the edge of it and not fall down.

By the time Presa was done firing her spell, Alvin and Jude were exhausted, and injured since they took some orbs to the legs and sat down in exhaustion, and Jude slid out of his grasp, laying facedown on the ground. Before Presa could finish them off with another deadly spell, she was being pelted by multiple strikes to the back.

"Bam! And spin!" cried Leia twirling her staff around as fast and hard as she could, sending Presa towards the air. Leia leapt higher than her. "You ready for this?!" Leia raised up her staff before bringing it down, as if wanting to tear apart space and time. "Soulstroke Celebration!" Leia landed perfectly on her two feet, and Presa fell facedown on the ground, defeated.

A minute before that, Rowen was still fighting off Wingul, when Wingul decided to end this battle once and for all. "(Infernal Torrent!)" His flame slash slashed at Rowen's shoulder, but didn't kill him. Shocked to see Wingul's blade fused with lightning, Rowen tried to back away for distance, but Wingul wouldn't let him. Rowen tried to block all of his lightning-speed attacks, but not even the Conductor could block those attacks.

"Lightning Nova!" yelled Wingul, ending his last resort attack with one last slash, bringing Rowen to his knees while clutching his wounds. Just when Wingul was about to finish off the Conductor, he was suddenly stabbed from behind by Milla. The stab wasn't deep, but it still made Wingul's guard down.

"All beginnings-" She dashed past Wingul, feathers burning near her feet in a blazing line. "-Must end!" She raises her sword upwards, calling forth streams of water. "Let it be-" She turns and swipes her sword with a gust of wind. "-By my hand!" Next, she summoned blocks of stone to strike Wingul. Finally, she stood back and created a glyph consisting the four elements, and the four glyphs, earth, fire, water, and wind, unleased their wrath. "Elemental Mastery!"

"GAH!" screamed Wingul, taking all of the elemental blows at once. He fell facedown, unconscious and defeated. Milla sighed a breath of relief before sheathing her sword and rushing towards Rowen's side and healing his wounds.

Finally, Phi climbed out of the crevasse with all of her strength before laying on her back, breathing heavily. She remembered she was still in a fight with the Chimeriad, then struggled to get up. Jiao only watched her, a little girl, struggle to even stand up. "It seems you can no longer move with your lightning speed. I do not take the pleasure of killing innocents, even children, but you have forced my hand."

"*pant*A word of advice... Keep trying to...to pity your enemies, especially little kids, and that'll cost you your life," advised Phi, almost getting up.

"What you are saying is indeed true," admitted Jiao. "However, this belief has made me who I am."

"Oh really? Jiao, I understand that you love children, but you're...also cruel as well,' said Phi, standing up, her arms drooping due to lack of strength.

"How so? Please, explain."

"Well...from what I've heard about Elize, her parents died, and you took her in. Sure, you were away sometimes, and you thought, since Elize was perfectly safe, she'd be happy. Bullcrap..."

"I understand that the villagers have been treating her badly there, but that is none of your concern. You do not even know how she feels when the villagers are-"

"Oh, I know, alright," said Phi, glaring at Jiao. "Truth is, I know the pain of being left out of a crowd, but this time, my pain's ten time worse, since I was betrayed by my best and only friend at the time. I can't explain it, but all I can say is this. You made decisions out of your own will, but you never even considered Elize's feelings. I despise those types of people!"

Elize felt touched with Phi defending her, but also felt bad for her when Phi revealed part of her past in front of her and Jiao. Being mistreated was one thing, but all those other things, including being betrayed, was far worse than Elize's sad past.

"...I understand. Regardless, you are still an enemy," said Jiao, raising his hammer. "I'm afraid that-"

"No!" cried Elize, quickly charging Teepo with dark energy. Once completed, Teepo launched like a cannon towards Jiao and circled around Jiao three times and created a spiral tower of magical glyphs. "Scary-Go-Round!" both Elize and Teepo shouted in unison, watching the glyphs explode into a spinning tower of dark energy, bringing Jiao to his knees and finally defeating him.

After the fight with the Chimeriad was finished, Rowen rushed in front of Wingul, his wounds almost completely healed. "Wingul, where is your booster?"

Wingul weakly pointed to his head. "Right...here..." He fell to the ground, fully unconscious.

"...You were willing to go that far to serve Gaius," muttered Rowen sadly as he looked at Wingul's unconscious body.

Elize walked over to the tired Jiao. "I have to know. Why do you seem to care so much about me?"

"Speak up, big guy!" ordered Teepo. Jiao only let a low grunt, turning his head so he wouldn't face Elize.

Elize only got mad. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in any last words," said Alvin, pointing his gun at Presa. Phi turned her head and widen her eyes when she saw Alvin about to kill Presa. She then remembered that Presa died at some mountain with Agria, but she remembered before that, Presa helped out Gaius with some sort of effort to take back Kanbalar from Exodus. That made Phi realize that Presa was absolutely needed to help out Gaius.

Though injured, Phi ran as fast as she could to try to tackle Alvin, but she was too far away. Even so, she screamed, "ALVIN! ALVIN WA-"

**BANG! **With one shot, Alvin aimed for Presa's heart and fired, killing her instantly. Phi stopped, too shocked to move. Elize and Leia just looked away, unable to see Presa's dead body, while everyone else stared, not shocked, or happy, or sad.

Rowen turned to the shell-shocked Phi, and looked worried. "Phi, what's wrong?"

Phi looked at her palms, wondering if she was disappearing from existence, but found that she wasn't. "Oh, I just thought that Milla needed some answers from the Chimeriad and that perhaps Presa knew that. But, we don't know because she's...gone," answered Phi, trying not to make her tone suspicious or shaky.

"No, there was no need," replied Milla. "We should get going. The Lance of Kresnik is just up ahead."

"R-right! C-come on, Elize," said Leia, dragging Elize along.

_'Oh no, what's going to happen in the future now? Presa wasn't supposed to die today! Now, I'm really worried about the others,' _thought Phi, picking up the pace. _'I just hope letting Presa die wouldn't affect the future a lot!' _

* * *

_Skit: Beauty exercising _

"Whew! That was a lot of guys back there!" sighed Leia.

"Tell me about it! Any longer, and it would have been a blood massacre around," agreed Jude.

"Isn't there already a blood massacre in every war?" pointed out Alvin.

"Then again, fighting a lot of guys isn't half bad either," said Leia, thinking about it. "I mean, the stronger you get, the more beautiful you are!"

"Hmm...perhaps you're right, Leia," said Milla.

"Huh? How in the world does that make sense?' wondered Jude.

"Hey, if we become more stronger, does that mean I'm the handsome guy in the group?" teased Alvin.

"No, I am the eldest, so I am more handsome!" argued Rowen.

"Hate to break it to you, gramps, but people don't really look at old people as 'handsome.'"

"Why you-! Ahem, how about we settle this in a duel, then? Whoever wins is the most handsome person in the group!"

"Bring it on, old man! Bring. It. On!"

"This is crazy!" cried Jude. "And we're in the middle of war! Who fights for beauty in the middle of-"

"Jude! This a fight between men, therefore, you must participate!" ordered Milla, firmly.

"But-ugh, forget it!"

* * *

_Skit: J.F.F. _

"Elize? Are you alright?" asked Phi, worried for her. "I mean, after what Alvin did in the previous battle."

"Yes, I'm okay. But, I'm more worried about you, Phi. Because of what you said to Jiao about your past. My past experiences weren't as terrible as yours. I mean, even though I was mistreated like you, the people of Hamil weren't always cruel to me. A man once gave me a blanket, and a woman gave me salad. I'm sure you weren't mistreated too much, though."

"To be honest, Elize, I'm kinda jealous of you, but not in a bad way. You lost your parents, but at least they loved you. I always got mistreated at school, just not by my parents. They always mistreated me, not even giving me a break. Even the teachers do the same. I'm...I guess I am a horrible person."

"No! That's not true!" cried Elize. "To be fair, I was jealous of you! Kinda in a bad way, but anyways! You're kind, strong, and beautiful! I'm the horrible person for thinking more about myself!"

"But..." Phi glanced down, and thought, _'When I said I was a horrible person, I didn't mean about my past, I meant, I'm a horrible person, for tricking you and everyone else. Every day, I had to lie in order to keep my identity and my friends safe. That's why I'm horrible. I keep betraying you, even when you don't understand.' _

"Phi!" said Elize, grabbing her hands. "I know! How about we be J.F.F's?"

"What?"

"J stands for Just! F stands for Friends! And the last F stands for Forever! I know about why your best friend treated you badly too, and I didn't want to be B.F.F. because it might remind you of your past, so let's just be friends forever!"

"But, are you sure? I might be cruel, though. I'm not really sociable, and I don't really act like a girl."

"You're never cruel! I'll never treat you like those other bullies do! Pinky swear!" said Elize, holding up her pinkie.

"...Okay. I'll trust you," decided Phi, twisting her pinkie with Elize's. Phi thought, _'She's so much like the Jiao in my time. Kind, and shy, but willing to protect her friends. I-I wonder if Elize will break her promise about being friends if she ever finds out everything about me. Until then, I guess I could spend time with her and the others.' _

* * *

**...Wow, a shocker, huh? You never expected Presa to be killed this early, huh? Well, there were changes. Anyways, don't complain that Presa was killed, because she was going to be killed sooner or later. Anyways, next chapter, Phi unleashes her own mystic arte for the first time in the story! Read and review!**


	14. The War Begins Part 3

**Alright, so the new chapter this week is right here! Along with Phi's new revealing mystic arte! I'll give you a hint, it doesn't involve hand-to-hand combat! Anyways, here the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

_'Great, this is just great. How is this going to affect the future anyways? With any luck, the future won't be affected by Presa's death,' _thought Phi as she was running with her group. After leaving Wingul and Jiao back there, they all decided to go on ahead and try to find the Lance of Kresnik before anyone, especially Gaius, could find it.

"There he is!" shouted Milla before stopping, along with everyone else. Phi just took one quick glance of Gaius, and even though his back was facing them, Phi felt a old chill down her spine. In her future, not once has she ever beaten her uncle. She didn't fear Gaius, but she did fear his absolute power. That fear has now increased due to the risk of death, since the Gaius in this world doesn't know who she is.

However, there is a chance of victory. There was only three people who knew all of Gaius's moves and sword techniques. Herself, Muzet, and Florian. But Muzet and Florian are not here, and Phi is the only person in the group who knows his fighting style, and how to fight against it. After all, her swordsfighting master was Gaius in her world.

Gaius must have sensed the party's presence. "So, you have defeated the Chimeriad."

"I cannot say I am surprised you came to the battlefield yourself," admitted Rowen.

"Of course. It is my path," replied Gaius. Milla took a few steps forward towards Gaius. Jude tried to move to stop her, but Rowen held him by the shoulder, shaking his head.

"Answer me. Why do you want the Lance of Kresnik?" The Lord of Spirits asked.

"With it, I will protect the people of this world," answered Gaius. "I shall gather all such sources of power and place them under my safe control."

"There is a fine line between protection and domination," said Milla. "The Lance will be the bane of the very people you seek to protect. This path of yours will lead to ruin."

"Preposterous. I will never falter as long as I have this will to guide the weak."

"Yet you have overlooked one crucial fact."

"And that is?"

"Despite that power and that will of yours, someday you will die," said Milla. "Then what? Can you guarantee that whomever inherits the Lance will share your vision and your will? Eventually, those who follow will succumb to the Lance's unfathomable power. They will destroy your legacy, and themselves. It's just human nature. Your history proves this."

"Then I will chart a new path for history," responded Gaius, calmly turning around to face them.

Milla sighed. "In the end, you too, show yourself to be human."

"Of course. And it's because I'm human that I yearn for a united Rieze Maxia. But I suppose you see it as greed and ambition."

"Gaius, for the last time, I will not give you the Lance," promised Milla, about to unsheath her sword. "Will you stand down?"

Gaius's response was him taking a fighting stance while wielding his long katana. "Never!"

Jude stepped forward. "I thought you might understand. But regardless, the Lance of Kresnik must be destroyed!"

"Yes. For the sake of future generations!" agreed Rowen, now wielding his rapier.

"We need to end this here and now!" declared Leia, taking out her staff.

"Yes! We can't end this now!" said Elize.

"Yeah! We'll stand by Milla!" agreed Teepo, determined.

Phi silently unsheath her katana, no longer nervous even though her friends are at the risk of death. _'I only have three goals. One, keep everyone out of death's door. Two, stop Gaius without killing him. And three, destroy the Lance of Kresnik!' _she thought.

"I think you know what happens next," said Alvin, placing his longsword at his shoulder.

"Show me your resolve!" shouted Gaius. Taking one slow step forward, he suddenly vanished before everyone's eyes, making them dumbfounded and confused. Phi immediantly recognized the technique Gaius performed and moved in front of Milla as fast as she could, parrying the katana that was about to slice off Milla's head from above.

It was a simple, yet difficult technique to understand. Phi may not have learned many of Gaius's techniques, but she has seen them many times during sparring. This technique requires the user to take a big slow step forward, and although it may seem like the user has disappeared, he is actually going really fast for exchange of that long was lucky she blocked that katana in time, or there would have been a Milla sliced in half.

Everyone was surprised at this act, and everyone jumped back. Just then, monsters and some Auj Oule soldiers arrived at the scene, fully armed. "Damn!" cursed Alvin, aiming his gun. "First Gaius, and now this?"

"Everyone, take care of the rest!" ordered Milla.

_'It'll be suspicious if I just say that I'll do it, so I'll cooperate with Milla for now. Damn, getting everyone alive is more difficult than I thought, especially with the Presa incident,' _thought Phi. "Milla, I'll join in, too!"

"Me too!" said Jude.

"No, Jude. I may need Phi's help on this one, so help the others," said Milla, getting ready to fight. Jude looked uncertain, but nodded and ran to his allies, who were currently fighting off the soldiers and monsters.

Soon, the air was filled of the clanging of steel as Milla and Phi worked together to fend off Gaius's attacks. To Milla, Phi was surprisingly a huge help in dodging and blocking Gaius's attacks. All Phi had to say were some words like, "Turn left," and Milla would obey while Gaius's attack missed. Phi was trying not to give any chances to attack Gaius, because if she did, Milla would attack and kill Gaius, which would be bad.

After ten minutes of hacking, slashing, stabbing, and dodging, Jude's team was already finished with the other enemies, and were wondering when they should help out while Milla and Phi were fighting against Gaius, who was too fast for human eyes. They could try to step in to help, but they don't want to be chopped liver, literally, especially since they're too fast.

"Alvin, can you aim at Gaius?" asked Rowen.

"No, those three are too fast! I might hit Milla or Phi!" said Alvin, his head getting dizzy from watching back and forth.

"Well, the least we should do is give them support! Ready, Elize?" suggested Leia, gathering some spirits for a supportive arte.

"Yes!"

The air was filled the clanging of air as Milla's blade clashed with Gaius's katana. Milla swung at Gaius's feet, but before the blade could try to slice his feet off, Gaius leaped into the air. "Tiger Blade!" When Gaius attempted a horizontal slash while leaping, Milla blocked it aggressively, but received a scratch on her elbow. When Gaius was about to land back on land, he slashed downward, but Milla deflected that blow completely.

Phi, who was waiting a chance to strike and was saving up her energy, ran past Milla and went on the offensive next while Milla stood back. "Sonic Thrust!" Phi, who was running towards Gaius, lowered her stance a bit before launching a single, fast thrust with a forward jump. Gaius deflects the attack, making Phi to roll over to the side and stand up, sword steady.

Both charged at each other, and more sparks went flying as the two katanas clashed. But no matter how many times one of the launched an attack, the other would deflect and deliver an attack of their own. One time, Gaius barely parried Phi's strike, and the former followed up on it by rushing forward, swinging his sword at the latter's direction. Phi was able to dodge the attack, getting away with only a thin scratch on her face.

"Fierce Demon Fang!" both Phi and Gaius cried outloud, slamming their weapons to the ground at the same time once they were out of range, creating a shockwave each that channeled each other out. Phi made extra sure her power was as equal as the arte she just performed, because she could have put more strength in that arte and injure Gaius gravely. However, she needed Gaius alive for future reasons, so she couldn't kill him.

Phi dodged Gaius's sword slash by leaping over his head and several distances behind him. Gaius turned around and readied himself when Phi finished taking a deep breath, then releasing a high-pitch screech that echoed throughout the entire battlefield and the skies. She was so lucky she invented this technique, but even though Gaius wasn't showing any pain, he was slowly approaching Phi, who was shocked by this, because he should be covering his ears, winching in pain like the others are. Determined not to lose, Phi increased the volume of her War Cry to maximum, but Gaius still kept approaching her, getting closer and closer. At last, Phi fell to her knees, exhausted after using that technique for so long.

Before Gaius could retalitate, he had to block bullets with his weapon from a certain mercenary, who could FINALLY fight against Gaius without having to shoot any of his allies. Milla stepped in this time with a loud battle cry as Phi stood back for recovering her strength. Soon, Jude and Rowen stepped in as well, and together with Milla, they tried to attack Gaius's weak points, but he blocked them all with one swing.

"Beast!" Gaius jumped into the air, and aiming the tip of his katana and his foes, he soared downwards and slammed through the group with extreme force. Rowen and Phi got up first, injured, but Rowen signaled Phi to stay put and allowed him to fight before Rowen charged forward. Soon, the others were getting up from that previous massive attack.

Right now, it was just a contest to see who was the fastest, the katana, or the rapier? While it is true that the two weapons are very good in speed and technique, the styles are different. The rapier can only stab, while the katana slices. Of course, there are other differences, but this is the main difference.

Everyone knew Rowen was a very skilled tactician and fighter, but he was damn well putting a good fight against Gaius, king of Auj Oule. Some thrusts aimed straight towards Gaius, causing the king to parry with the blunt side of his katana. As soon as he blocked them, Rowen dived in and attemtped to stab his opponent in the face.

Gritting his teeth, Gaius shifted his head enough for Rowen's rapier to pass right by him. Gaius quickly responded by swiftly swinging his katana in a wide horizontal arc, and it took all of Rowen's strength to block that. Both Gaius and Rowen had suffered severe injuries during their duel, like cuts and gashes.

Gaius will admit, the Conductor was making him use most of his strength right now. He felt a stinging sensation on his cheek as he was barely able to dodge Rowen's rapier. Gaius counterattacked by swinging his katana at his opponent's neck. Rowen was able to dodge that attack by shifting his neck to the right, earning but a small cut,

Rowen sent two quick, but weak thrusts to Gaius's chest, but the king blocked them with ease using the blunt side of his katana. Gaius slashed at Rowen, who nimbly dodged by stepsiding out of the way. He counterattacked by thrusting multiple times, forcing Gaius to block until finally, Rowen landed a hit on Gaius's upper arm, and it was a deep thrust. Unfortunely, Gaius slashed at Rowen, who was forced to dig out his rapier and dodge, only to get a nasty wound in his side.

Wanting to finish the Conductor once and for all, Gaius sank into a crouch, then flung high into the air with a jump. While on his course, his body along with his katana, controted and rovolved during the jump.

"Everyone, get away!" shouted Jude as he rushed to Rowen's side, trying to help him get away while healign his wound. Phi realized that move and charged forward without hesitation. "Phi! Wait! Come back!"

Positioning her katana on her right shoulder, Phi's left foot kicked off the ground at full force, and her body flew up diagonally into the sky like a bullet shot from a gun. As Gaius was on the verge of using a deadly, heavy technique, Phi swung her sword at the same time Gaius swung his weapon. Unfortunely, the force of Gaius's blow was so great, Phi was sent crashing down, blood pouring from her forehead from the crash.

"Phi!" screamed Leia, rushing towards her. However, she couldn't get close since there was so much dust around since Gaius landed down with great force. Everything was a complete mess, and everyone was scattered all over the area, confused due to the dust cloud.

"Milla! Phi! Alvin!" called Jude, in a fighting position in case Gaius was nearby.

Alvin came running up to him along with Rowen. "Idiot! Stay quiet! Do you want Gaius to know where we are?" hissed Alvin.

Meanwhile, Elize and Leia were holding hands together, trying to find their friends through all the dust. "Leia, look!" cried Elize, pointing to someone girls ran towards the figure and saw it was an injured Phi trying to get up from her crash landing.

"Hey, are you alright?!" asked Leia as she and Elize quickly started healing her wounds.

Milla was calmly trying to search Gaius through the dust cloud, and her friends, if possible. Suddenly, her side was pierced by a beam of light from out of nowhere. Coughing up a bit of blood, she fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding side. From the shadows, Gaius appeared.

Once Gaius saw Milla, he immediantly closed the gap and swung his blade downwards with both hands once he got close. Luckily, Milla endured the pain, and was able to raise her sword and stand up in time to protect herself, though the sheer force of the blow and her injuries caused one of her knees to buckle. Milla was at a tremendous disadvantage, and if she didn't act fast, it wasn't going to be Gaius killing her, it'll be blood loss.

Milla grunted as she parried a thrust aimed for her skull, knocking Gaius's weapon aside. The only action Milla could think of in order to get out of this mess was a perfectly aimed kick to Gaius's gut to knock him back, creating some space between them. Gaius grunted in pain a little, but shook aside the pain.

All of a sudden, strong winds blew away the dust clouds, clearing the area completely. Gaius and Milla were in the middle of the area, Jude, Alvin, and Rowen were very far away, and Leia, Elize, and a almost fully healed Phi were a few distances away from Gaius.

Seeing Milla's heavy injury, Alvin immediantly shot at Gaius, who leaped back and blocked all of his bullets while Jude and Rowen charged forward to rescue Milla. Phi panicked a little on the inside due to the fact that Milla was losing blood, and if she died, Phi would never be born, which is terrible.

_'I'm really starting to hate Dark Spirits more for making me do this,' _thought Phi as she got up and ran towards Gaius. Of course, Leia and Elize tried to stop her, but she was too fast and ignoring them. Using all of her speed, she appeared in front of Milla in a flash and repelled Gaius's katana and stepped up to him without hesitation.

Jude and Rowen arrived at Milla's side and helped her up. "Phi, we'll help you as soon as Milla's healed!" promised Jude.

"Please stand back, both of you. I'll fight Gaius alone," replied Phi coolly as she readied her katana.

"Don't be stupid! I already said that-"

"I might not be able to defeat him, but I can at least keep him occupied. I can match him for more than five minutes if I use all of my strength. So, hurry up and give Milla treatment. Don't worry, I don't plan on dying today," ordered Phi. Rowen looked at Jude, and both nodded before scurrying out of there while carrying Milla.

"Such surprising resolve at a young age...To throw away your life for a friend," said Gaius, sounding impressed.

"Like I said, I don't plan on dying today," reminded Phi before advancing forward.

Once Jude and Rowen got Milla to safety, Elize and Leia started healing Milla and closing up her wounds as fast as they could. "So, what happened?' asked Leia.

As if on cue, more soldiers and monsters appeared, again. "When will this ever end?" complained Alvin as he unsheathed his sword and got ready to fight once more.

Loud noises and clashing sounds could be heard within Gaius and Phi's range. Rocks and sparks are flung all over. In the chaos, Phi is fighting Gaius with more spirit and power than ever. Their battle is continuing without change. Only dancing swords and a whirlwind of fatal destruction is between the battle now.

Even now, both opponents are blocking each others attacks out, having no success in taking the other one down. Phi was trying to stall for time until something happens. Apparently, she remembered that something drastic and terrible was going to happen during the fight, and even though it was bad and she couldn't remember what it was, she still had to stall for time, no matter what, in order for Gaius and everyone else to live.

Phi never finds joy in fighting, especially when fighting her uncle, an opponent she's never beaten before. It's difficult to say if Phi is stronger than the Gaius in this time, but right now, she's exchanging blows with him, almost as if she was on equal terms with him.

"Hyyaaaah!" Yelling outloud, Phi and Gaius leaped through the air and clashed once more before landing on the ground, far away from each other. The others were already finished with their opponents, and Leia and Elize are busy healing them. It's been about ten minutes, and Phi said she could last about five with Gaius, but it;s been past her limit.

"Awaken!" declared Gaius, slicing his sword slowly in the air. "The infernal cries out into oblivion!" Gaius's blade begins glowing red, and the aura was filled with desire and determination to annihilate the enemy in front of its wielder.

"That's-!" Seeing the huge gap between her and Gaius, which was about fifty meters, Phi instantly realizes Gaius's intention. There was only one way to oppose it, and it was a strongest attack for a strongest attack. _'I didn't want to use this, but it looks like I have no choice!' _thought Phi, getting into a stance as she raised her sword.

As Phi raised her blade, it become to glow yellow with sparks electrifying the blade, and it begins emitting a powerful aura, just like the aura Gaius's blade held. Since it was raining, there was also lightning and thunder nearby, and a lightning bolt struck the tip of the katana, making it stronger.

"Come, show me your power!" hollered Gaius, his sword readied, besides him. Converging and spinning, the light of the aura reaches its critical point. The red silver sun stands ready, the flare held in both Gaius's hands.

"ABSOLUTE DOMINATION!"

"FLASH CALAMITY!"

Phi swung down the electrified blade, then the mass of yellow light released in a destructive surging wave that spared nothing in its path. Phi made sure not to put too much power into her most powerful attack, and thought that it would completely block the attack.

Unfortunely, she only blocked out most of the attack. Gaius's Absolute Domination contained a comet-sized ball that appeared in front of him, and as soon as he sliced it, he began running up to Phi, slicing up her Flash Calamity with all the power he placed in his sword. As he was running up, his power was starting to decrease, but it would still have enough, even a little, to take down his opponent.

Phi's expression freezes. Gaius was approaching with a weak powered katana. She saw it coming, but couldn't do anything to defend herself. Her body cannot catch up to her thought.

**SPLAT! **She received a huge cut on her shoulder and fell on her back. Not only did she receive a dangerous cut, her spine and some bones was probably broken as well. She groans in pain as she felt the pain of an impact with the force of an explosion. The wounds are deadly, but she's still alive because she's half-spirit, and if she was human, she would have died a few seconds later.

Phi was slowly regenerating herself by using her weak healing spirit mana to heal herself, even now. If left alone, she could have those wounds closed in about ten minutes or longer. But until then, she had to accept any finishing blows since she can't move.

"Everyone! Phi needs our help!" ordered Rowen, a bit frantic. Not needing to be told twice, everyone rushed to Phi's aid. Beofre Gaius could deliver the final blow, he had to block Alvin's bullets and Rowen's throwing daggers, so he couldn't get close to Phi. Milla and Jude quickly took Phi to their custody and got them to Leia and Elize, also defending Phi.

Just then, out of nowhere, Gaius had to block two more daggers from above. "Who dares?!" he called out. Jumping from a wyvern, everyone saw Ivar land on top of a cliff.

"Ivar to the rescue!" he cheerfully said.

_'Of all the times, why?!' _thought Phi, now annoyed as she tried to stand up. "Hey, don't push yourself!" scolded Leia, healing her wounds.

"Ivar? Why are you here?" asked Milla.

"Lady Milla, once your powers are restored, you'll be able to give that pretended a serious smiting!" said Ivar, excited than usual as he got out a strange item. Oh, the strange item was also known as the Key to the Lance of Kresnik.

_'Why do I remember this now?! Ivar activates the Lance of Kresnik! That's the terrible thing! Screw wasting time!' _thought Phi, quickly standing up as fast as she could despite her injuries, and throwing rocks at Ivar. Unfortunely, her aim was low due to the fact she was injured, although she almost hit Ivar in the face.

Ivar laughed in accomplishment. "Pay attention, Jude! I'll show you what separates the handmaids from the boys!" Ivar turned around and ran towards the Lance of Kresnik, which was convienently in the same cliff, before installing the key there.

_'You know, if Evan wasn't my friend, I would have killed Ivar a VERY long time ago,' _thought Phi as she was forced to be healed again. The Lance of Kresnik started activating and a weird magic glyph appeared on the cannon. As soon as it did, everyone started agonying in pain for the Lance was draining mana from their bodies.

Once the Lance of Kresnik gathered enough mana, it shot out a blast and fired at the sky. A sudden crack sound was heard as the blast cleared through the stormy clouds. Suddenly, it started pouring again, as if everything turned to normal, which wasn't.

"What...what happened?" muttered Jude in confusion.

_'I'm...sorry...' _thought Phi, guilty. She thought it was her fault that the Lance was fired, because she was the only one who knew it would be fired. If only she had secretly killed Ivar-no, that couldn't be the case. Even if she had and eliminated Evan, someone else would have fired the Lance. Still, she was silently apologizing. If anyone knew she was from the future, well, she wouldn't blame them if they blamed her.

"It can't be...It broke through it all," gasped Milla, astonished and her tone showing fear. "So...I was mistaken after all! And that means that the Lance was never a weapon at all!

**BOOM! **The sudden explosion cleared everyone out of their cloudy thoughts. Suddenly, more blasts and shots came from the skies, as the battlefield was being bombared with explosions and screams. Shockingly, battleships started soaring from the clouds and appearing into the war zone.

"A fleet of ships that sailed the skies?" wondered Gaius, calmly.

"I've finally done it. Hehehehe..." Everyone turned to see Gilland, Nachtigal's most trusted supervisor on top of a cliff.

"Gilland! What is going on?!" demanded Alvin angrily.

_'Wait, he knew?! Ugh! As much as I hate this, I have to keep trusting him!' _thought Phi, punching the ground out of anger.

"You mean that's Gilland?!" questioned Milla, looking at the man. Alvin tried to shoot Gilland, but icicles appeared out of nowhere and kept Alvin in place. Everyone immediantly recognized those icicles as the ones that killeed Nachtigal.

"Were you the one who attacked Hamil?" asked Gaius.

"Yes. That was the handitwork of my spirit, Celcius," answered Gilland, getting out a mechanism. With it, a blue glyph appeared, and out from it, a young female spirit that looked cold-hearted appeared.

"The spirit, Celsius? I've never even heard of that name before!" cried Milla.

"You dare laid hands on my people. For that, you will pay," said Gaius, getting into a fighting stance. Before he could retaliate, however, more shots fired from the battleships and hit land, creating dust everywhere. Everyone glanced up to see soldiers flying down using jet packs.

One of them flew down next to Gilland and asked, "Are you Gilland of Exodus?"

"Yes I am. That's the woman down there."

"What?! Exodus?" wondered Milla, shocked. "Were you the one who told Nachtigal about spyrix?!"

Gilland ordered, "Don't kill that woman. It would ruin everything."

"Mobile armored units, forward!" ordered the leader of the Exodus squad in that area. Many Exodus soldiers started sliding down the hill using some more of technology-based boots that made them skate on air and shoot the area, forcing everyone to defend and dodge. Phi was being protected by Jude and Leia and was halfway recovered. However, more Exodus agents with electric cannons fired and exploded the ground, knocking everyone back.

Alvin, knowing the situation was desperate, tried to aim his gun at Milla. "No!" cried Phi, pushing herself off the ground and pulling on Alvin's arm, making him miss. Alvin and Phi were now on a struggle, with Alvin trying to get his arm away from Phi. Phi even bit on Alvin's arm so deep, it would take a while for the mark to go away.

"Miss Elize!" shouted Rowen. Phi saw an unconscious Elize about to be captured by some Exodus agents. and saw that Milla was by Rowen's side, luckily.

"Bring the brat along, too. A fine specimen of booster compatibility," ordered Gilland, glancing down at the scene.

"Elize!" shouted Phi, letting go of Alvin's arm and running towards her. Suddenly, Exodus soldiers blocked her way, so she was forced to fight.

"Get your hands off of her!" yelled Milla, rushing forward. Unexpectedly, Gaius elbowed her in the stomach so hard, Milla was starting to feel sleepy. "Why are you...doing this?"

"Go to sleep. You'll just complimate things," replied Gaius as Milla fell unconscious. Hoisting Milla up on his shouder, he slashed through the enemy and turned to Jude and his friends, who were running towards him to retrieve Milla. "We will settle our score later!" Gaius shoved Milla into Jude's arms as quickly as possible. "Maxwell is the one they're after! Take her and flee!"

"But, we can't just leave Elize and Phi!" cried Leia.

"Rowen, Leia! Take care of Milla!" ordered Jude as Rowen accepted his request. "You all go on ahead!"

Phi was getting more and more tired by the second, due to her heavy injuries and the previous fight with Gaius. More and more soldiers were coming, and she was growing wearily by the second. Just then, Alvin slashed an enemy in front of her, and Jude knocked one from behind her.

"Phi! Are you alright?!" asked Jude, punching some foes.

"Yeah, go on ahead! Elize needs you!" shouted Phi. "Alvin and I will handle this!" Jude nodded before running to where Elize was, fighting his way through Exodus soldiers. Phi and Alvin stood back to back with each other, ready to fight.

"So-"

"We'll talk after the battle. Right now's not the time! Also, I'm not apologizing for biting you."

"Alright, but you didn't have to bite that hard."

"You deserved it."

About a few minutes of fighting, with Alvin mostly doing it since Phi concentrated on spirit artes, Alvin saw Elize and Jude running back to them. Alvin turned to Phi, who looked confused. "Sorry about this, kid."

"What are-" **SLAM! **Not having a chance to endure the pain, Phi quickly passed out and was carried under Alvin's armpit.

"Sorry about that. Just sleep for now. You deserved that much."

* * *

**Alright, I'm done for today! See you guys!**


	15. Hypothermia

**Hey! I'm back with another brank new chapter! Okay, I'll just shut up now and let you reviewers enjoy the story. Places!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

_'Wha...what happened?' _Phi wondered. She was staring at the whiteout, but couldn't see anything but snow. She felt her back filled with something soft and turned her head, only to experience pain in her neck. She ignored the pain and saw a pile of small snow seeping through her light clothes and soaking her. Every part of her body felt like sword stabs, especially her shoulder for some reason. Not quite able to walk yet, she started crawling for a little bit.

Phi's eyelids opened wide, though they were heavy as rocks. She knew that being tired, heavy, and cold were all symptoms of hypothermia. With all of her strength, she forced herself up to her knees, though the pain was unbearable. She looked at her surroundings and saw she was near some icy mountains, possibly in a tundra. The area around her was covered in snow, she was near the cold, freezing ocean, and worse of all, it was snowing. Phi wondered if she had gotten frostbite or hypothermia. But the more she thought about it, her mind felt like it was filled with cotton.

Despite her throbbing headache, she still had to think of a plan to survive. She didn't find Jude and the others around here, and clearly, there's no one else here, but where is she? And how did she wind up here? Forget that, she needed to warm herself, and fast! As fast as she could, Phi dropped her bag and pulled out a dry, long black overcoat that was her size. She carefully tried it on, and she felt a little warm, but still cold.

Forcing her legs to move and get up, Phi slowly began to walk towards whatever she was going. Soon, she approached a tree and decided to take a one minute break while leaning against it. When Phi leaned against the tree and slid down, she noticed a small red trail as she slid down. She glanced from up to down the tree until it pointed to where the red trail was leading to: Her bleeding shoulder.

Where had she gotten this injury? Frustrated, Phi banged her head against the tree so hard, it just caused her trobbing headache to increase even more. However, that also caused her to remember everything that was going on. She remembered her friends were fighting in the war, and she was fighting Gaius, but Gaius gave her a serious injury in the shoulder, then Exodus arrived, and then Alvin tried to kill Milla, then he knocked her out. Oh, when she finds Alvin, she's so going to make him pay. The punch Alvin had given her had been incredibly powerful, and her arms and legs still feel numb and tingly.

Regardless, she has a mission to do. She may have failed to destroy the Lance of Kresnik, but she did save Gaius and everyone else's lives. Now, she has to protect Jude and the others until the very end. Pushing herself off the ground, Phi stumbled a bit, but regained her focus and continued walking. She shivered as the chilly, freezing winds blew, and the soft, cold snow pelted down on her face.

Soon, she saw a few armored guards, which are Exodus members, in front of a cave entrance, laying on the ground. Phi started praying a little before walking into the cave. Inside the cave, it was dark, but illuminated with ice crystals and ice pillars, and there were tunnels to go through. Great, at least it wasn't as cold as outside.

Phi was slowly getting a little warm, but still mostly cold. Whenever she tried to lean against the wall, she immediantly pulled away because it was too cold. Luckily, she didn't encounter any monsters, or at least, not yet. Her bag and her katana were a big weight to her, but she was strong, so she continued. Her stomach growled in hunger, but she ignored its pleas for food and continued onwards.

Finally, she stopped in front of an ice wall, reflecting her own figure. It's been about a few weeks before she even saw a mirror, but her curiosity got the best of her and she examined her reflection. Her clothes were still wet and dripping dew drops on the cave ground, her black coat was skinny, but those parts weren't important. She had a wound straight through her knee, dark bags under her eyes, a few bleeding cuts and bruises on her cheeks, a trail of blood running down from her forehead, her face was pale with a light shade of blue along with her blue lips, and her hair was let down and stained with her blood. She looked like a pitiful, helpless little girl with a thin body and several wounds.

Just then, she saw a large, muscular ape appear right behind her when she saw the ape in the reflection. Her eyes widen, and she turned around to do something, but the ape was fast enough to grab her and raise her up in the air. Phi struggled to get out of the ape's grasp, and saw two more apes were behind this one, wielding clubs.

Then, the ape holding her slammed her down to the ground, forcing her to cough out blood. She rolls over in time to avoid a ape's fist smashing towards her, which is now implanted in the ground. Cold hands still shaking, she unsheathed her katana as fast as she could, and slashed at another ape's fist and quickly as she could. However, her slash was blocked by the ape's thick muscles.

Knowing that her sword skills won't work in her condition, Phi sheathed her sword and stepped back. Her three opponents were the apes, and their only skills were their own strength, something Phi lacked while she focused on skill and speed. She was getting dizzy from some blood loss, and her hypothermia state wasn't helping on bit. There were two options. Fight, or run.

Normally, Phi wouldn't run away from a fight, but this was a serious emergency. Before Phi could move, one of the apes charged at her, roaring out a battle tries running off, but got an idea. She waited until the ape's fist got close, then jumped with all of her strength and hanged onto its fur for dear life. While she was climbing towards the ape's back, she had to dodge the ape's fingers from trying to pluck her off. Eventually, she got on top of the back of the ape's furry head, taunting the other apes. When the second ape tried to punch Phi, she waited, then jumped off, hitting the ground with a painful thud.

**SPLAT! **A hammer-like fist strikes the ape's head mercilessly, spraying a bit of blood on Phi's face. The headless ape fell flat on the floor. Anything above its neck doesn't exist anymore. Grunting, Phi slowly got up from the floor, but as soon as she was standing, the ape that killed its comrade aimed for Phi once again, forcing her to guard her face with both arms. Even so, she still smashed into the wall, the ground several feet away beneath her.

Luckily, she landed in a small ice cliff beneath her, or she would have hit the floor again. As the two apes were advancing onto her position, she realized she was far too high for them to reach her. Taking this chance, Phi started gathering spirits as fast as she could, though she was getting colder from getting water-type spirits. She could see her breath as she panted and concentrated.

"O frigid blades, pour forth! Icicle Rain!" A cloud appeared above the second ape, and a rain of icicles pelted down on it, and even though there were still icicles still sticking from its head, it wasn't dead. Phi shivered and fell to her knees, coughing out more blood. This was bad. She needed to hurry up and finish this, before she runs out of energy and mana.

"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!" Focusing almost all her remaining mana into her arte, she created a gigantic longsword filled with electricity and threw it at the second ape's neck, killing and electrifying it completely. Two down, one to go.

Just then, the third and final ape reached the wall, and started smashing its fists so hard, rocks started falling down from the ceiling. Even though it couldn't reach Phi, it still intended to get her somehow. Then, the ape started getting aggressive and started smashing its club against the wall, bringing forth more rocks from the ceiling. When Phi saw a boulder heading straight down towards her, she had no choice but to jump.

As Phi was descenting down, the ape's free arm grabbed her body. Phi's face contorts in pain, and with the ape's power, it shouldn't be hard to crush her small body. The ape's fingers dig in as if to scoop Phi's guts, making Phi scream in pain. Phi was hung upside down while being crushed. Her vision was getting blurry, though Phi did everything she could to struggle and focus. But even so, it was pointless. Her friends weren't even here to help her out, but can she still call them friends even when she was betraying them every single day, without their knowing?

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **Though her vision was blurry, she was able to see a small explosion on the ape's other arm. She turned her head painfully, and for a second, she could have swore she saw Elize, Alvin, Jude, and the Muzet in this time-oh, it was them.

"Hey! Let her go!" yelled Jude, rushing up to the ape's legs while Alvin kept shooting at the ape. Letting out a cry, he started smashing his fists against the ape's foot so hard, you could literally hear the bones in that foot crack. The ape roared in pain and immediantly released Phi, who got caught by Muzet. Phi wasn't moving, but she wasn't dead.

Muzet handed Phi's body over to Jude, who had stepped away from the ape. "I shall handle that beast," promised Muzet before flying upwards. Concentrating her mana power onto an energy sphere she created, she launched it towards the ape's chest, creating a huge hole that killed the ape. Jude carefully placed Phi's cold and bleeding body on the floor while Elize and Alvin rushed over.

"Phi! Wake up! Wake up!" pleaded Jude as he and Elize started casting healing artes on her body. Phi was already much worse than before. Her injuries started bleeding out more, and her face started getting more pale. "Muzet, can you please start a fire?"

"Very well." As soon as Alvin assembled some sticks he found nearby, Muzet easily casted a simple fire arte and made a fire. Jude quickly placed Phi near the fire and he and Elize continued healing her wounds, which were slowly closing up.

Next, Jude noticed that Phi's clothes were completely drenched, save for the long overcoat she was wearing. His cheeks tinted pink as he touched the collar of her robe. "Um...could you guys turn around?"

"Why?" asked Elize, confused.

Muzet seemed to know what was going on. "Oh, I have heard of this. Your friend has hypothermia, does she not? If that is the case, then it is of course logical to take her wet clothes off to dry."

Elize seemed embarrassed by this, and turned around. Alvin took off his long heavy coat and gave it to Jude. "Here, as soon as you uh...do your stuff, just cover her with this. I'll be fine."

"Okay, thanks Alvin."

"Hmm...if this bothers you so, perhaps you will let me take off her clothes for you, then cover her with the coat?" asked Muzet politely, hovering around Jude.

"Oh, if you can do that, thanks," agreed Jude, turning around. "Just tell me if you're done, okay?"

"Certainely." Within a minute or so, Muzet called, "It is finished." Turning around, Alvin, Jude, and Elize saw Phi wrapped up in Alvin's coat like a bundle, her wet clothes neatly stacked up right next to her. Jude laid her clothes near the fire to dry them before he and Elize continued healing the rest of Phi's wounds.

"Come on, Phi...Please, wake up!" murmured Jude as he tried warming her up by holding her cold hand. Suddenly, Jude nearly shrieked when he felt Phi's other hand grab hold of his arm tightly. Muzet didn't seem surprised, Alvin accidentally banged the back of his back against the wall, Teepo screamed, and Elize jumped a little. Phi forced open her eyes and tried to sit up even in pain. She noticed that she was completely naked, except for her undergarments and the large coat covering her body.

"Hey, you shouldn't move so much!" warned Alvin. Just then, Phi's face was consumed by Teepo, who was so happy to see she was alive.

"Big Sis Phi! You're alive!" cried Teepo. It took Jude, Phi, and Elize's strength to pry Teepo off. Phi rubbed her eyes and looked at her surroundings before remembering that she was rescued by Jude, Alvin, Elize, and Muzet.

Wait, what?! Oh yeah, Jude was rescued by Muzet, so he later found Alvin and Elize too in this cave. Then, they found her and rescued her from some monsters before trying to heal her wounds. Come to think of it, she did have hypothermia, which would explain why her wet clothes were being dried and she was almost naked. Well, Phi found her aunt Muzet, so she'll have to pretend she doesn't know her.

"...I have a good idea what might happen," said Phi, sounding annoyed. "But, I'll forgive Jude and Alvin this time only because they helped warm me up."

"Really? For a second, I thought that you were going to start yelling and trying to beat me or Jude up," said Alvin.

"Never mind that. Who's this floating lady?"

"I am Muzet, a spirit. It is an honor to meet another spirit, just like me," welcomed Muzet, bowing her head respectfully.

"Wait, what did you say?" asked Jude, surprised by her words.

"I said, 'I am Muzet, a spirit. It is an honor to meet another spirit, just like me.'"

"Another spirit? What do you mean?" asked Elize.

_'Shit! I totally forgot all about the whole' keeping the half-spirit secret' part!' _thought Phi, frantically thinking of a solution.

"Did you not know? Your friend, Phi, has the soul of a spirit. Though technically, she also has the soul of a human as well."

"What?! First Milla, now you? I don't mean to be rude, but honestly, I'm a full human being!" complained Phi to Muzet.

"Well, Milla's got another spirit backing her up, so you being a spirit may have prove a fact," said Jude. "Oh, and Muzet says she's Milla's sister."

"Oh, a sister? That's surprising. Anyways, where are the others?"

"We didn't find Milla and the others yet," explained Alvin. "We found you about to be killed by some monsters, so after we defeated them, we started getting you warmed up."

"Oh, thank you guys then," thanked Phi. "Uh...I'll return your coat back as soon as my clothes are done drying themselves."

"Phi, maybe you should get some rest. You look tired after all," suggested Jude.

Phi yawned before laying down. "Alright then. Wake me up later, okay?" With that said, Phi quickly fell asleep pretty fast. Soon, she woke up after what felt like a long time, and sat up to find Alvin leaning against the wall, asleep. Jude, Elize, and Muzet were nowhere to be found, so Phi checked her clothes to see if they were still wet. Nope, they were dry, so Phi changed as fast as she could, then laid Alvin's coat over Alvin's body, waking him up.

"H-huh? What?" Alvin opened his eyes, and saw Phi staring right back at him. "Oh, so you're finally awake, huh? *yawn*"

"Where's Jude, Elize, and Muzet?"

"They went hunting for a while and left me in charge."

"I see." Phi scooched over and sit next to Alvin, bringing her knees to her chest while clutching her overcoat. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Why do you trust me so much?" asked Alvin, suddenly sounding serious. "Back in the battlefield, you saw how I tried to shoot Milla, but you stopped me. Why?"

"It's pretty simple, really. Don't you remember before we flew those wyverns? I swore that I wouldn't let you betray Jude and the others so long as I was there. And I did stop you from betraying the others."

"..."

"Can't say I'm surprised that you'd try to betray us again. But what's done is done."

"This is going to sound stupid, but do you trust me?" asked Alvin, quietly.

"...Yeah. I still trust you, Alvin." _'But I don't want to, though,' _Phi secretly thought.

Alvin was confused in the head. _'Phi acts more like a great leader. Not as great as Milla or Jude, but I know she's made it through a lot of tough situations. She has a strong will and doesn't believe in failure, but even so...' _

"...Why? Why do you still trust me?" Alvin's voice started getting slightly rising. "I...you weren't there, but back in Kanbalar, I betrayed Jude and everyone else! You convinced the others to let me back! And, I repaid you by trying to shoot one of the very people you promised to protect! Why?!" Alvin got up, and smashed his fist against the ice wall, his expression filled with confusion and anger. "Why do you still trust a guy like me?!"

"..." Phi remained calm. She was used to outbursts like these. The innocent people that were traumized by the Dark Spirits in her time always yelled and screamed like this. Alvin was no exception. _'I can't tell him. But, what should I say that'll be the truth, but not the complete truth?' _

"...Alright, let me ask you a different question," sighed Alvin, thinking he scared the little girl. "You...why do you fight so hard? For me, I fight to accomplish getting home someday, but I don't know when that someday will come."

"...Alright, I'll tell you why I fight." Phi got up from her seat and stood in front of Alvin, bringing his attention. "Please pay attention. This is very important. You must be sure to remember it. Ready?"

Remember? What could be so important to remember a person's reason to fight? But Alvin nodded his head and listened to Phi.

"Okay. My only reason for fighting is...to get a new life."

"Get a new life? You mean, for selfish reasons?"

"Wait, maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. I mean, win a new life with my own two hands. Start all over. But Alvin, even if I were to die to accomplish that goal, I wouldn't really die."

"What?" Alvin asked.

"Everything eventually ends. Eventually, the day will come when I won't be here anymore. Since that's the case, the timing doesn't really matter, because the important thing in life is what you accomplish with your life. You don't die when-well, yeah, you PHYSICALLY die someday, but you won't MENTALLY die. When you really mentally die, it's when someone who cares a lot about you forgets you. That kind of feeling hurts more than death, to me."

"...I understand," said Alvin, giving a nod. "You're right. Someday, us humans will die, and I'm trying to do something before my time comes. But, in my case, I guess I'll both mentally and physically die. Obviously, nobody trusts me, and pretty soon, they'll forget me, get married, have kids, and stuff like that."

"I still trust you," reminded Phi, kneeling down in front of Alvin.

"Yeah, but you're probably going to forget me someday. Can't blame you for it too. My own mother couldn't even recognize her own son even when she did remember him..."

"Maybe you are right. But, even so, I will remember you, because I trust you. I like you. As a friend." Phi remembered the first time she met Alvin, who was a lot older than the Alvin right now. He was a little goofy, but good-hearted. Phi giggled a little, bringing Alvin's attention.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Huh?" Phi put her normally calm face on. "I didn't laugh."

"Yeah, you definitely laugh. And it was kinda cute, in a way."

"S-shut up!" said Phi, a little red due to the fact that she was rarely called cute. "We've got more important things to worry about anyways!"

_'And a success to embarrassing little miss over here. But I am a bit glad someone believes in me,' _thought Alvin, chuckling to himself. Phi sighed in annoyance, brushing her bangs away, before she sat down next to Alvin again.

"So uh...what now?" asked Phi, suddenly bored. "Do you want to talk about something?"

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something back when we battled Presa, Wingul, and the Jiao guy. Well, during the battle, despite all the loud noises and distractions, I kinda overheard you being betrayed by your friends and family or something of the sort. And um...gah, I'm no good with the whole therapist helping situation problems, but do you want to talk about it to ease your mind or what?"

"No way. Forget it. Sorry, but I don't like discussing my past with other people, even if they are my closest friends."

"Oh, okay." Alvin and Phi just sat down next to each other, waiting for Jude and the others to come back.

* * *

_About a day later... _

After resting for a day, the group decided to head out since most of Phi's injuries were mostly healed. The weather wasn't too snowy today and their view was much clearer, but there was more monsters to deal with. Alvin, Muzet, and Alvin would take the front lines while Elize and Phi would back up from a far distance. In late afternoon, they finally arrived outside of a weird, tall, grand black temple in the middle of the tundra.

"Where are we?" asked Jude.

"Xalien Temple," blurted out Phi without thinking. Actually, in her time, she's been here once. Her uncle took her and her cousin here once before for reasons not really important.

"Wait, why do you know that?"

Phi realized her mistake. "Because I read it in a book and saw a picture of it before."

"Hey! Guys!" called out Leia's voice. Everyone turned to see Milla, Leia, and Rowen from a far distance, running towards them. Everyone else rushed towards them, happy to be reunited.

"Milla! You're okay!" cried out Elize happily, as she and Teepo hugging Milla.

"Am I glad to see you!" said Leia, talking to Jude.

"Milla?" Milla turned to see Muzet floating towards her, and Milla was a bit surprised to see another spirit in this area.

"Oh? Do I know you? I have never seen you before," questioned Milla.

"Why, I am your older sister."

"Sister? I don't have a sister."

"What's going on, Muzet?" asked Jude, now more confused than ever. When he first met Muzet, he was told that she was Milla's older sister, but Milla has never seen her before. Was Muzet lying?

"This may be our first time speaking, true," explained Muzet, still cheerful. "Yet we are both spirits born from this world at nearly the same time."

Milla stood silent for a moment before looking back at Muzet. "Well, you are definitely a spirit, that much I can believe."

Muzet giggled. "No need to be so suspicious. What could a spirit gain from impersonating your sister? You are Maxwell, after all."

"It's true. It wouldn't gain her anything," agreed Jude.

"Why did you appear before Jude?" questioned Milla, still suspicious.

"Because you summoned me before him. Or rather, your powerful feelings for him summoned me."

"Alright, another question then. I must be sure." Milla points to Phi, who was surprised. "Is she a spirit?"

"Hmm...It puzzles me that you would ask such a thing when you yourself can sense a spirit," admitted Muzet. "But I shall answer. Yes, she does have the power of a spirit, but at the same time, she is human."

"How long are you going to bring that up?" asked Phi, now annoyed. "I mean, seriously, what-"

Just then, the doors to the Xalien Temple opened wide and revealed Wingul. Everyone immediantly readied themselves, but Wingul stopped them with one hand. "Hold that thought," he said, listening carefully to something. A bit far away, above the mountains, everyone could see Kanbalar, but what was more interesting was some bell ringing coming from that direction.

**"Attention. Attention. I am Gilland. You have my most sincere apologies for forcibly occupying your city. Please understand that subjugation is not our goal. Such extreme measures were only neccessary to prevent an apocalypic war between two superpowers. You have my word that we at Exodus will do all in our power to preserve your safety and your livelihoods. We desire the same thing you do: eternal peace for Rieze Maxia!" **

After the announcement was over, Milla spoke up. "I despise that man, Gilland. He promotes peace even as he uses spyrixes to hurt both humans and spirits alike."

"We may have no choice but to eliminate him and his group," said Milla happily.

Jude turned to Alvin, who was sitting down next to a pillar, deep in thought. "Alvin, it's time you come clean. You should tell us everything you know." All Alvin did was stand up and pick up a letter his sylphjay gave when the bird landed on his arm.

"I assume Gaius won't stand for this," said Milla, turning to Wingul. Wingul just turned around and walked inside in silence.

"He's inviting us in. I'm surprised he even revealed himself," admitted Rowen.

"Maybe he's just testing us?" suggested Jude.

"It's not a trap, is it?" said Leia, a bit worried.

"If it was both of those things, don't you think he might have to fight us right now?" reminded Phi. "And people don't normally fight inside temples. Especially in the most sacred temple near Kanbalar. I'm sure Gaius wouldn't allow a fight inside a sacred temple."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go," said Alvin, sounding deadly serious.

"What happened?" asked Jude, noticing his serious tone.

"I'm on the straight and narrow now. I promise."

"And why would we believe you this time?" questioned Milla.

"I have a score to settle with Gilland. Let me be the one to finish him off. If I betray you again, you have my permission to run me through with that sword of yours. So let me come with you."

"And if I refuse?"

"...Then I'll kill him on my own."

"...Very well."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

_'I don't know and I don't care if Milla remembers this, but I did swear to keep Alvin from betraying the group. And I kinda did by saving Milla's life back at the battlefield. At any rate, I'm glad she's changed the subject about spirits,' _thought Phi as she and her group entered the temple. Inside, Gaius and the Chimeriad, not including the deceased Presa and Jiao, were inside.

"You've come," said Gaius.

"So in the end, you've chosen to trust that man. You're more naive than I thought, Maxwell," replied Wingul cooly, refering to Alvin.

Milla got straight to the point. "Tell us what your purpose is for bringing us here."

"We will stand and fight against those invaders," answered Wingul. 'If you intend to challenge them yourselves, we won't attempt to stop you."

"But first, there's something you need to tell us," said Gaius sternly. "I want you to tell us what you know about the schism." Everyone turned to Milla, both surprised and confused by what the 'schism' meant, except for Muzet and Phi, who knew exactly what that meant.

"...Two millenia ago, I cast the spirit arte schism," explained Milla. "It created a new world and sealed it away. That world is yours. It is known as Rieze Maxia. It was for protecting both spirits and humans."

"Rieze Maxia is sealed," confirmed Gaius. "That implies the existence of another world outside the schism, does it not?"

"Yes, and that world is called Elympios. I was gravely mistaken about the Lance of Kresnik's true purpose. Exodus convinced Nachtigal that it was a weapon, but all along, they were plotting to create a device that would dispel the schism."

'Dispel the schism? To what end?"

"I do not know. I wonder if perhaps, they were looking for a means to siphon mana back to Elympios."

"No," Alvin spoke up. "All Exodus ever wanted was to go back home. Back home to Elympios. It's all we wanted more than twenty years, since we became trapped in Rieze Maxia. We needed to find a way to either breath through the schism or dispel it completely."

"But in order to dispel the schism, they would have to find a way to eliminate its creator," revealed Milla.

"But it doesn't add up. What is Gilland's master plan?" wondered Gaius.

"Gilland's actions are not going to get Exodus back home much faster," said Rowen.

"He didn't need to bring the whole Elympion army," said Alvin. "And unifying Rieze Maxia? That was never our original intention."

"Gilland must intent to make use of Rieze Maxia with the schism intact," said Wingul, thinking very hard. "But for what purpose?"

Alvin suddenly stood from his seat. "That's it. The Otherworld Reactor Plan. Most folks know it as the Spirit-Fuel Plan. I remember my cousin telling me about it when I was still a kid, back on the other side. Something about capturing spirits and using them as fuel for spyrixes."

'But if all he wants is to capture spirits, then why bother with all the lies?" wondered Jude. "Unless...He's planning on trapping us in Rieze Maxia for our mana lobes!"

"He seeks to use the people of Rieze Maxia for a power source?" growled Gaius. "The man is insane!"

"Gilland most likely returned to HQ on the ocean," revealed Alvin. "The Elympion army is with him, so getting there by boat won't be easy."

"Well then, perhaps we could comandeer one of the flying ships they have docked at Kanbalar," suggested Wingul.

Gaius nodded. "Very well. We attack tommorow."

"Wait a minute, Gaius! Aren't we supposed to team up on this?" called Jude, trying to stop him. "I mean, we both want the same thing, so-"

"It's not a social gathering," said Gaius. "It was Maxwell who created the schism and trapped us all inside of it in the first place. Imprisonment is not so easily forgiven. It's entirely possible we may end up fighting each other again."

After Gaius and his team left, Milla said, "They must be shorthanded. Why else would they share that information with us?"

"Despite what they say, I still believe they are counting on all of us," said Rowen. "At any rate, we should get some rest for tommorow."

* * *

_That night... _

Jude couldn't keep his eyes closed. Alvin hasn't returned from whatever he was doing, and Rowen was fast asleep. Pulling the white sheets off of him, Jude sat up, then stood up, still worried about tommorow. Moonlight is streaming in through the window, so he started gazing at the moon for a while. Then, he saw a familiar figure standing quietly under a particularly large tree. Wondering who it was, Jude walked outside since he wasn't going to sleep anyways.

Outside, Phi was staring up at the moon, standing motionless. Because of her tense expression, Jude couldn't bring himself to call out to her. Something about her was...dangerous. Though Phi is their ally, even he suspects, yet trusts Phi. She doesn't even move a finger as she stares at the moon.

To him, Phi is a great friend. But, sometimes he feels overprotective for Phi and Elize. Well, that is to be expected for a soft-hearted guy like him. But at the same time, he is suspicious about Phi, and he doesn't really know her well. Milla is getting impatient and more suspicious about Phi, so it's no surprise that she doesn't trust her. Honestly, even if Phi is or isn't a spirit, it doesn't matter to him.

Jude took a step forward, and Phi immediantly turned around, hand on her hilt. She relaxed her shoulders and sighed in relief. "Oh, good evening, Jude. So what are you doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep. I could see the moon from my room, but there was a poor little girl outside. As her friend, I had to come out," said Jude, joking a little.

"I see. Well, no matter. I couldn't sleep either, so we're basically on the same boat. I guess I'll keep you company until you've cooled off."

"You're awfully nice today. Did something happen?"

"Huh? No. I've always been like this, idiot. I just feel a bit...nostalgic."

"Nostalgic? Are you homesick or something?"

"Kinda. But that doesn't matter. I don't live in my old home anymore, and I'm just a traveler," said Phi. "Anyways, Milla's lucky to have you as a good friend."

"I don't know. I don't think I'm such a good friend to her," admitted Jude, shaking her head.

"Nah, you really are close. I mean, you are nice to her, she trusts you completely, and you practically have a crush on her."

"That's...not what I meant," said Jude, his cheeks red. "But, I don't agree with her all the time."

"Of course. You're your own person. By the way, I want you to make a promise to me."

"Huh? Where did this come from? And what's the promise."

"Jude, I want you to promise me to live on in happiness. Find happiness, even when one of your friends or loved ones die. I'm sure they'd want you to do the same."

"What's this all about, Phi? Please, explain what's going on."

"Well, I just figured that you'd be the type of guy who's fragile and would easily break down from a traumatic situation. So, I want you to promise me that promise I just told you. Well? Specific enough? You understand?"

"Yes."

"Also, don't even think of commiting suicide. A guy who commits suicide just because of an tragic ending isn't fit to fight. So don't die, no matter what. I won't forgive you if you just die, leaving your loved ones behind. I also won't ever forgive you if you lose your way. You promise?" Phi's words contain both strictness and somehow, a murderous hostility.

"...Okay, I promise," agreed Jude, fully understanding. "So, what do you think about tommorow? I'm a bit worried about, you know, anything."

"...Jude, do you remember when I told you and the other back in Xian Du that I swore I wouldn't let Alvin betray you, no matter what, as long as I was there?'

"Well, yeah. But that doesn't really matter now."

'Actually, it does. Once this is all over, we're fated to separate. I mean, we're still going to be friends, yeah. But, we have different lives, Jude," Phi explained. "But, in order for that to happen, we need to survive. So, I'm willing to make another promise to you, and everyone else. I promise, I won't let you, Alvin, Milla, Elize, Rowen, or any other friends die."

"...You know, you don't have to do this on your own," suggested Jude, worried, yet kind for Phi's sake. "It seems to me that you're the type who has a huge burden on her shoulders. You probably want to do things alone, right? But at the same time, you're kind. You'd do anything to let any good people live. Isn't that right? Well, it's okay to lean on us too, you know."

"...Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not that I don't trust you or think you guys are weak or anything like that, but I'm just a do-gooder, just like you. I can't stand good people getting hurt. Plus, I think I'm a little soft-hearted."

"That...doesn't really explain my question. Why don't you want to rely on others? Is it because you think you'll become weaker? Because if so, it really won't. They'll help you, and in this case, we'll help you."

"...Fine," spoke Phi finally. "Well, we should get some rest. What do you say?"

"Sure, I guess." Together, both of them headed towards their own rooms, getting a good night's rest.

* * *

_Skit: New nickname! _

"That little piece of shit...if I could just get my hands on that little fucker, I'd literally squeeze him till he popped!" cursed Phi, obviously irritated.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Jude.

"Ivar, of course. Who do you think? Thanks to his stupid act, he activated the Lance of Kresnik, and now Exodus is running all over the place!"

"Yikes. Ivar better watch out. Because there's a little she-devil after his trail," said Alvin.

"I don't need to hear that from you, you know," said Phi, annoyed by Alvin's nickname given to her. "But you are right. That self-satisifed old turd better watch out for me."

"Wait, a new nickname for him? First senile old fart, now that?" asked Jude.

"Yeah. Captain retard gets a reward for being the most idiotic person ever."

_'Now it's captain retard? That's a lot of hate,' _thought Jude and Alvin, sweatdropping. "So, you think Ivar is alright?" asked Jude, a bit worried.

"Well, back when he activated the Lance, if lord dimwit wasn't on the ground, agonizing in pain while his mana was being drained, I'd say he's fine."

"You really hate Ivar so much, don't you?" replied Alvin.

"'Hate' seems too big of a word. I just dislike him to the point that there is no way I would ever like him until the day when rapigs fly."

"Oh man," groaned Jude.

* * *

_Skit: Pervert Meter _

"Are you really Milla's sister?" asked Alvin.

"I am. Although it differs from the way you humans conceive as sisterhood," replied Muzet.

"In what way?' asked Elize, interested.

"I couldn't say. I know very little about the human version of the concept."

"So, elementally, what kind of spirit are you?" wondered Alvin.

"Oh my! What temerity to ask such a personal question!" gasped Muzet, her cheeks blushing.

"Wait, what?"

"Alvin!" shouted both Elize and Phi in annoyance.

"You're commiting sexual harrassment!" pointed out Teepo.

"Ugh! I knew you were a pervert, but this one really takes the cake!" said Phi. "Way to go to level up in the pervert meter."

"Hey, hold on! I didn't mean it like that!" protested Alvin.

* * *

**Finished here! Enjoy!**


	16. Doubts and Suspicion

**Alright! Time for an invasion against Exodus! Believe me, it was funny giving Ivar those nicknames! I don't hate him, but he annoys me to no end. I also can't believe he's coming back for Tales of Xillia 2, though. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

The next day, everyone gathered outside one last time for their negotiation. They all felt a bit uneased at working together, but it was only temporary, so it was alright. "How do you intend to hijack a ship that's docked in the sky?" asked Rowen, curious.

"We'll use the wyverns in the castle," answered Wingul logically.

"You have to get there first," reminded Milla.

"I have no intention of sneaking into my own castle," stated Gaius.

"We shall march up the main road and reclaim it," said Wingul, surprising everyone, who thought that plan would be suicidal and insane.

"What?! You can't be serious!" cried Jude.

"Indeed," agreed Rowen. "At the very least, you should split into two groups. Create a diversion."

"Keep your tactics to yourself, you old fart," taunted Agria in a cocky way.

"Jude, do you know what you have to do?" questioned Gaius.

"Of course! I have to help Milla win. It's that simple." Gaius nodded before he and his small team moved out.

"Well, I do know there's a path leading into the city off the side of the temple," revealed Alvin.

"How do you know that?" asked Leia, surprised to hear that from Alvin.

"What do you think? I bet Alvin's been to Kanbalar before, assisting Gaius before he came into contact with us," guessed Phi. "Of course, it's just a guess, though."

"We can take that path from the temple into the city, then move along the roofs into the castle," announced Rowen. "From there, we can both capture the flying battleship and retate the castle and its soldiers. Meanwhile, Gaius and the others will create their diversion. With that said, let us move on."

Following Alvin since he was the only onm\e who knew the path, everyone was careful not to slip on the ice or encounter any other dangerous things as they ran towards Kanbalar. Once they arrived, they saw that they were on top of a roof of a building, and below them, lots of Kanbalar soldiers were fighting against Exodus. Nobody knows who was winning or losing, but Milla's group hoped it was Kanbalar soldiers who won.

Some Exodus soldiers spotted the group and charged towards them, forcing the others to fight back as well. Milla leapt forward with Leia right behind her, both teaming up against two random Exodus soldiers, one shield-wielder, and one knife thrower. Milla swung her sword at the shield-wielder, who easily blocked her attack with his shield. Then, Leia jumped from behind Milla and lashes out her staff with all her might as if to cut off his legs, executing a strong sweep that made the shield-wielder slip off the ice and fall from the roof. Quickly bringing up her staff and spinning it in front of her, Leia blocked all the knives thrown to her by the knife thrower. While the knife thrower was distracted, Milla ran from behind Leia and cut down the knife thrower.

Phi, Muzet, and Elize were assisting Alvin as he tried to fight off five Exodus soldiers. Luckily, they were slow, but they carried heavy defense, so it was hard to penetrate through their defense. Normally, Phi would help him, but she still had those injuries, so she probably wouldn't be much help except casting artes like Elize. "Pierce through! Wind Lance!" A crescent-shape of wind appeared in front of Phi and she fired it, forcing one of the Exodus soldiers to block with his shield, which received a large crack on the shield.

"Unleash claws of darkness! Negative Gate!" With a swung of her staff, Elize formed a sphere of dark energy behind two Exodus soldiers, but it wasn't enough to defeat them completely. Two other Exodus soldiers that weren't attacked by the two girls ran towards Alvin from behind as the mercenary was trying to break the cracked soldier's shield, but Elize and Phi wouldn't let them as they focused their mana together.

"Elize! Let's get them!"

"Right, Phi! Let's do this!" Together in unison, along with Teepo, the trio cried out, "Negative Lance!" A powerful looking sword consumed by darkness and flames shot from the sky and soared towards the five Exodus soldiers. Not only did it damage them severely, but it also caused them to fall off the roof, letting Alvin took a breather and rest for a while.

Meanwhile, Jude and Rowen were fighting their own pair of Exodus soldiers together. One of them, an axe wielder, raised his axe with a loud cry and brought it down on Rowen. Nimbly, the Conductor sidestepped the man before the axe sliced where he once stood before he thrusted his rapier at the axe wielder's chest, but not too deep, forcing the man to step back as blood started staining his clothing. Before the axe wielder could retaliate, Rowen was much faster and feinted a stab at the man's heart, finishing off the axe wielder.

Jude was backflipping and dodging long-range attacks from an Exodus soldier who was firing strong blasts from his spyrix cannon at a fast rate. While dodging, Jude was gathering as much mana as he could in order to make a mana-powered shield to nullify the spirit artes the Exodus soldier was firing. To the soldier's surprise, Jude throws himself into the hellfire, nullifies the spirit artes with his mana-powered shield and uses it as cover. Jude closes in and hits the Exodus soldier in the chest with a fist so hard that a shattering sound was heard, making the soldier land on his back. After that, Jude, with his back turned to the soldier, uses the turning momentum to attack and stopped turning to attack with his elbow, defeating the soldier.

Soon, as the group rushed to the castle, they stopped when they saw Gaius and his small team fending off against a large number of Exodus members. Gaius and Wingul easily cut down their foes with swift sword slashes before proceeding to a different enemy, and Agria was just going crazy with her spirit artes. It seems that the rumors about the Chimeriad were true that all four members could take on at least a hundred men. However, two of the Chimeriad are dead, but with Gaius, they were still an invincible team.

"Jude! Above you!" warned Milla. Phi glanced behind her shoulder and saw an Exodus soldier about to fire his cannon from a higher building. Frantically, Phi threw herself towards Jude, forcing him to lay facedown on the snow. Then, a loud noise was heard, and everyone turned their heads to see the Exodus soldier being taken down by one of Gaius's long distance sword techniques.

"Come on! Get up! We have to keep moving!" said Phi, quickly getting up and helping Jude to his feet.

"Yeah, thanks Phi." After several minutes of fighting Exodus soldiers and jumping from roof to roof, they finally went past the castle gates and jumped to the castle grounds before trying to find the cell that held the wyverns. It didn't take them long to locate the wyverns, fortunely. With his talented lockpicking skills, Alvin unlocked the lock with a hairpin he borrowed from Leia and freed the wyverns. Then, everyone paired up like last time, only a little differently. Phi rode with Rowen, Leia with Elize, Alvin by himself, and Millia and Jude sat together. Muzet was the only one who didn't ride a wyvern because she can fly on her own.

Soon, once the team arrived on deck of the battleship, they landed before releasing the wyverns to go back to the castle so that Gaius and his crew could pick them up and meet them on top of the battleship. It was extremely windy, and not surprising considering that they were on top of a flying battleship in the sky.

"We must comandeer the bridge," told Rowen, reminding them of their task.

"That it up there?' Alvin glanced up pointed to his direction. From where he was pointing, it was a large, tall part of the battleship that seemed to be operating the ship, and most likely the operational part that was well-guarded so that there weren't any intruders.

"Repel the hostiles!" Everyone turned and saw some Exodus soldiers had spotted them and were rushing towards their way, wielding weapons and spyrixes. Everyone prepared themselves for battle once again and some split up to fight separately. Milla and Alvin charged at some soldiers as if they planned the attack. Two blades cut through very few, light clothed soldiers, but most of the soldiers had armor on, though deflecting their blows.

Phi stayed close to Elize, making sure to protect her as she casted artes since Elize wasn't a close combat user. Rowen also stayed closed and protected them as they were casting artes. As Rowen finished thrusting his sword against an enemy, Elize casted a dark arte that entangled nearby Exodus soldiers in a dark grasp, throwing some of them off the battleship. After a few minutes of storing up mana power, Phi cried out, "Fireball!" Thrusting her hand forward, a red-colored glyph appeared in front of her hand and shot out a huge fireball towards the armored guards Alvin and Milla were currently fighting. Apparently, shields are vunerable against strong magic, and once the huge fireball collided with the wall of shields the armored guards were wielding, their formation broke, allowing Alvin and Milla to strike.

Since Jude and Leia were childhood friends and trained together under Leia's mother, both knew each other's fighting moves and were an excellent pair for combat since they fought back-to-back. Leia would parry away strikes meant for both her and Jude, and Jude would counterattack with his fists and legs. Whenever she had the chance, Leia would also retaliate with Jude, making their teamwork more ffective as they fought a group of Exodus soldiers surrounding them in a circle.

Soon, more and more soldiers were coming up the deck, and everyone was fighting their hardest, but they just keep coming. Leia swung her staff and just defeated another Exodus soldier before glancing up to see lots of soldiers coming. "Come on! How many soldiers does this tub carry?!"

With a loud cry, Jude leaped up from the air and swung his fist downwards at a soldiers, and Alvin joined him by slashing his sword down, killing two more soldiers behind Jude. Rowen and Elize arrived at their side for assistance while Phi was helping out Milla. "Let's split into two groups," suggested Jude. "One group can run over to the bridge and bring the ship to ground level."

**BANG! BANG! **After finishing off a soldier, Alvin nodded his head in agreement. "Good idea. That way Gaius and his group can reinforce us. Then we can break through these troops.

"Alright, then the question is, who should go?" wondered Rowen. Jude saw Milla having some trouble with a full armored soldier, so he jumped forward, knocking the soldier off his feet, and finished him off with two quick punches to the head.

"I'm going to stay here and fight. Milla, you should go!" ordered Jude.

Just then, a voice from the skies announced, "I couldn't help overhearing your plan with these perfect ears of mine!"

"Oh hell no!" complained Phi angrily, recognizing that voice. Out of anger, she unleased her fuel of anger by picking up a light soldier and throwing him overdeck, making him fall and scream as he fell from the sky. A wyvern had soared through the misty clouds, and someone jumped out of that flying creature. Yes, that person was none other than-

"Ivar?!" cried out Milla, surprised.

"You! Finally! I've been waiting for this!" Phi's left eye twitched in anger, before she started stomping her way towards Ivar. Any soldier that got or stood in her way, she just tossed them overboard with her fists of fury. She wasn't going to throw him overboard of course, but just...make him sleep for a while. It took both Alvin and Rowen to stop her as she struggled in their grasp.

"Let me go! I'm gonna squeeze that old fart till he pops!" cursed Phi, her two arms being hooked by one of Alvin and Rowen's arms each as she was lifted up from the ground by the two grown men. Both men sighed in annoyance, and a bit of amusement as they watched the young, short-tempered girl struggle.

Before Jude could say anything, Ivar interrupted, "Hit the showers, fraud! The curtains just closed on you! I'm the new star of the show now!"

"Thanks, Ivar! I'll rest! I could use a breather!" assured Jude, sighing in relief.

Ivar got irritated. "No, no, no, no! This is all wrong! You're supposed to explode into a jealous rage!"

"Uh...okay. In that case, I'll take care of it."

"Ha! You think I'm just gonna let you play the hero?!" Ivar then turned around, kicked a soldier in the stomach to make him move, and started climbing up a pillar like a spider so he could get to the main control system of the battleship.

"Guys please, let me just give him a good smack, just this once," grumbled Phi annoyingly as Alvin and Rowen released her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. What if it only makes him worse?" said Alvin. Phi scowled a little before looking away. It didn't last though, because now, they had to fight against more Exodus soldiers that were arriving to their area. After several minutes of fighting, everyone was more exhausted than ever, than they heard some sort of static coming from a microphone.

**"I have seized control of this ship!" **announced Ivar, indicating that he made it to the main control room. **"Drop your weapons and surrender!" **

Every remaining Exodus soldier ran away from the fighting, claiming Jude's team the winner. "Ivar, set us down the ground!" ordered Jude.

**"What do you think I'm trying to do?! Fly loop-de-loops?!" **After a while, the speaker spoke once more. **"Uh...this button maybe? No, this one?" **

Jude heard a sudden sound, like someone falling, and turned around to see Phi down on her knees. Her mouth was a bit wide, her eyes slightly glazed, and her body was unaturally stiff. "H-hey! Are you alright?!" Jude asked, worried. He ran towards her and helped her up. She fumbled a bit, but scrambled to her feet.

"What...what's going on?" Phi muttered to herself. For an instant, she had a headache and couldn't think or walk straight. Then, she had remembered what was going to happen next. Ivar was going to press a button that activated some deadly machines. Why did she now remember this? Why didn't she remember other things from before? Why now?

"Hey, are you alright, Phi?" questioned Jude.

**"Aha! This must be it!" **

"NO! STOP! IVAR, DON'T YOU DARE PRESS THAT BUTTON!" Phi screamed as loud as she could.

**"Huh? Why should I listen to you? I'm pressing this button, and that's it!" **

"If you do that, something terrible might happen! Don't do it! Think about the consequences!"

**"Lady Milla will be in danger if I don't press this button!" **

"We're ALL going to be in danger if you do press that button! Choose a different one!"

**"Lalalalalala! I can't hear you! Click!" **Whatever button Ivar pressed, it activated four medium-sized machines with spyrix-type cannons inplanted on top of them, surrounding the group. No time to complain or chat, the group straightened themselves and prepared to fight once more.

Everyone immediantly split up into groups once more so they could battle the four machines. Jude and Milla would handle the red machine, Alvin and Leia takes care of the blue machine, Rowen and Muzet handles the green machine, and Elize and Phi faces against the yellow machine.

Jude and Milla got the red machine cornered, waiting for it to make its first move. From the barrel of its cannon, it started emitting a red glow before releasing it in the form of a red-colored laser. Luckily, both Jude and Milla dodged out of the way or they would have been fried. They tried striking it, but its defense was simply too strong and hard to handle.

Leia backed up as support for Alvin and increased his attack power in time for the blue machine to spray water from its cannon's barrel. Alvin ducked his head and had his hair drenched a bit, but that part didn't matter. As soon as he got close, he swung his sword from bottom-right to top left, hacking away a small part of the machine.

Muzet and Rowen were having very little difficulty in their part, and it was very simple to see who the winner of that round was. Rowen's sharp tip of his rapier slashed away small chunks of the green machine, but merely important wires to activate the machine. Muzet's mana-powered attacks were very effective, seeing how her attacks got the machine down on its knees, though its wind-powered cannon proved to be an nuisance.

Elize and Phi were not doing so well. They tried casting spirit artes, but they didn't have the time since the yellow machine was much faster charging its machine. They had to dodge the yellow blasts coming from the machine, and gotten injured as a result. Since Elize is not a close-ranged fighter, Phi was to get close and distract the machine while Elize supported her. Of course, it kinda worked, but it didn't at the same time. Sure Phi managed to damage the machine as fast as she could, but her quick attacks were weak and nimble, while the machine had a lot of attack power, so it injured her. Even as Phi's wounds were healed by Elize, she still can't destroy the yellow machine.

"They're all element-types!" cried out Jude, figuring out the different types of machines as he stepped back for distance. "Milla and I are fighting against a fire type, Leia and Alvin are fighting water, Muzet and Rowen's are wind, and Phi and Elize's are earth!"

"So, we basically have to use their weak spots to beat them?" questioned Alvin, shooting at the water-type machine.

"Yes! It would seem so!" said Rowen, casting an spirit arte while Muzet was busy fending off the cannon's power with her own mana blast. As the two mana blasts collided against each other, Rowen was now prepared to activate his own arte to back up Muzet. "Stone Wall!" From an earth-type glyph above the water-type machine, several heavy rocks fell from the sky and crashed on top of the water-type machine, making it stop its cannon's fire.

"Now you are finished!" Quickly gathering up mana to create a small sphere, Muzet threw the sphere at the machine, smashing through the machine's core and destroying it completely.

**"Oh! I think this is the right button!" **A few seconds later, the machines, other than the destroyed one, started acting differently, and started shooting beams all over the place. Not only that, but they started moving really fast and was scattering all over the area, and their beams were more stronger than before.

"We don't have any time to cast spirit artes!" cried Elize as she was running all over, trying to dodge the beams. Jude got hit in the shoulder, Milla's elbow got attacked, Leia had a wound on her cheek, and Phi's right arm was really in bad shape.

"Alright, me, Milla, and Rowen can take on the fire-type machine,' decided Jude. "Leia, Alvin, and Muzet can take on the earth-type machine and the wind-type! Elize and Phi, stay back for support!" After Jude said that, he backflipped to avoid a blast that was coming from behind.

"Freeze Lancer!" Rowen was keeping the fire-type occupied by unleasing a fury of icicles for distraction, while Jude and Milla moved in to strike the fire-type machine in any way possible. Leia and Alvin were handling on the wind-type machine, and Muzet was having no trouble dealing with the earth-type machine, and seemed to have fewer injuries. Phi and Elize were doing their best to speed up their spirit artes to attack the machines or boost everyone up.

"Spinning Thunder!" both Alvin and Leia cried in unison. Twirling her staff around, Leia gathered thunder spirits to enhance her weapon and started spinning around, while Alvin swung his sword harder three times. It broke a large chunk of the wind-type machine, but it started getting more aggressive and still operational.

"Phi! Please!" cried Elize, fully charged. Phi nodded before the two girls shouted together, "Rejuvenation!" A glyph appeared beneath their friends' feet, including the floating Muzet, and started slowly healing their wounds. While in the process, the elemental-type machines fire a large blast from their cannons towards their targets, but a strong barrier appeared in front of their targets, which came from the glyphs. It seemed that as long as Jude and the others were in the glyphs, they couldn't be harmed, but that also left the casters vulnerable.

Now, the machines turned their attentions to Phi and Elize, and Teepo started freaking out. At the first, the others were trying to rush to their side, but when they tried to step out of the glyph, they found that they were trapped there, until their wounds were completely healed. Muzet, however, was close to breaking the glyph, as it had several cracks in them, but she still needed time.

"Oh no! They're coming after us next!" cried Elize as she and Phi rushed to create a spirit arte that will block out the machines' elemental attacks. But, they weren't fast enough, and the machines fired their quick, small blasts at the same time. With no time to think, Phi stopped her casting, and threw herself in front of Elize and Teepo, taking the three blasts to the right arm before falling out of the deck due to the impact. Luckily, she was holding onto the railings with her free left hand, but she wasn't going to hold on much longer due to her broken and bleeding right arm.

"No! Phi!" screamed Elize, shocked over what just happened. Just then, Muzet finally broke through her barrier and flew past Elize and grabbed onto Phi's wrist, helping her back to deck. Elize turned to face the wind-type machine out of determination and anger. "Ignite Terror!" A large dark glyph appeared in front of the girl, and fired a larger, darker beam, sending the wind-type machine off the deck and into the skies.

By that time, the glyphs below everyone else's feet disappeared, and they were back to action once more. Leia, Elize, and Jude rushed to the injured Phi and started working on her injuries, while Alvin took care of the earth-type machine, and Milla and Muzet would handle the fire-type.

"Open, collapse everything into the abyss forever! Gravity Well!" chanted Muzet. A medium-sized dark dome with lightning surrounded the earth-type machine, slowly crushing it with the intense gravitational pressure. As soon as the dome vanished, Milla swooped in, jumped from above, and performed a powerful thrust, effectively hitting the core and shutting down the machine.

Meanwhile, Alvin seemed to be doing good on his part, as he finally got his machine opponent on its knees. He fired his gun seven times, which sounded a lot like explosions than simple gun shots. "Open your eyes and witness-" He leaped into the air as high as he could, bringing his longsword above his head. "-your final demise! Terminus Pride!" When he stabbed his longsword into the fire-type machine, it simultaneously combusted before finally deactivating.

"Glad that's over," panted Milla, relieved that the fighting is done. Jumping from the wyverns from above, Gaius and his small army got into the battleship and surrounded it by outmatching and outnumbering the Exodus group in the battleship.

"We'll take over from here," decided Wingul. He signaled his hand, and everyone moved to capture the battleship.

"Gaius probably didn't need us after all,' replied Jude, still healing Phi's injury. As Gaius's group surrounded and invaded the rest of the battleship, Milla and Muzet started healing everyone else's wounds while Elize, Jude, and Leia were still healing Phi's wounds since they were the most dangerous.

* * *

_A few hours later... _

Once back in Kanbalar, Gaius announced that since there was still repairs to be done in the battleship, the operation to invade the H.Q. at sea would begin tommorow morning, much to everyone's relief since they needed to rest. Jude told Phi that her right arm had a several broken bones, but most of them would recover and her arm would still move by tommorow since he, Leia, and Elize healed her wounds as fast as they could.

Everyone had gone their separate ways, including Phi. Her right arm was in a sling, but she was told to take it off tommorow. She was outside, in the middle of a park, sitting in a bench near a tall tree. As she was deep in thought, she heard some leaves from the tall tree rustle, and stood up in time to see Ivar jump from the tree to the ground a few distances away from her.

"Oh, Ivar," said Phi, sounding a bit bored, but still angry at the fact that he had to go activate the machines, which caused her arm to be in a sling.

"Oh. It's you," replied back Ivar, looking a bit irritated.

"I have a name, you know."

"And you think I care? No. What do you want anyways? And last time I checked, you didn't have a sling with you, which looks cool, considering I, the great Ivar, have never had any broken bones before."

"Tell you what, how would you like a cool sling like this?" started Phi lifting up her sling. "All you have to do is lay on the ground, and let me pounce on you and break your arm in one simple move. Easy enough."

"Man, are you still mad about what happened?" questioned Ivar, not sounding like he cared. "Well, I'm sorry, then!"

"What the hell do you think?" hissed Phi, showing the anger on her face. "I was _teetering _on the abyss of death thanks to you! Literally!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"Yes, and that makes it a _whole _lot better, you goddamn idiot!"

"Well, I didn't have a choice at that matter," replied Ivar. "I mean, how could I have known which button was which?"

"You landed down safely, though. Plus, you seemed to know how to move the ship."

"That was different! Besides, I was trying to help out Lady Milla."

"And that's enough to justify screwing someone over?" asked Phi.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, moron!"

"_I'm _the moron here? You're the moron for pressing that button! I warned you, you self-satisfied old turd, not to press any suspicious buttons, but did you listen? No! You just had to play the hero and nearly killed us! Damn good thing we were strong on our own! You might as well killed us yourself, including your precious 'Lady Milla.'"

"Well, there was no way I was going to stand back and let that fraud you call Jude take all the action!" Ivar shouted. "I am Lady Milla's handmaid, so it is my responsibility to make sure she's safe!"

"That's no excuse. And what demonic force made you think it was a good idea to activate the Lance of Kresnik back in Fezebel Marsh, huh? Did you even think that through? About the consequences?!" shouted back Phi. "Now thanks to your stupid brain, Exodus is here in Rieze Maxia, and it's all thanks to you!"

"W-well, how was I supposed to know that stupid group would come from the skies? And that the Lance of Kresnik would bring them here?"

"Even if you didn't know it, you were still responsible for building their passageway here. You get it, you senile old fart?!"

* * *

_A little bit later... _

Jude, Milla, Muzet, Alvin, and Leia were talking with one another, discussing about the events that's happened so far. "So...Milla? What do you think of all of this?" asked Jude.

Milla took a moment to think about it. "Hmm...well, I will be relieved when this is finally all over, but I still feel a few lingering things. First off, although Alvin is on our side, I still don't completely trust him."

'Ouch. Well, I guess I deserved that," grimaced Alvin.

"Also, there is the matter with Phi, again."

"You still think she's a spirit? You don't believe for a fact that she might be human?" questioned Leia.

"No human can have that much mana power stored inside of them. It's almost as equal to the mana power I had when I had the Great Four with me, and I was awfully powerful back then," replied Milla. "The question is, why is she hiding the fact that she's a spirit?"

"I have heard that some humans who have far too much mana inside them tend to have dangerous illness and fevers from overloading too much mana in their bodies," suggested Muzet. "Many have died, but there are a few survivors. Perhaps Phi is one."

"Even so, I feel something strange about her. Not just her mana power, but something's...similar and different about her at the same time," admitted Milla. "I don't know what, but I don't think that matters right now. What really matters is that Phi is still suspicious. As much as I hate to admit it, she might be more suspicious than Alvin."

"Well, that's a relief, considering I'm the one usually suspicious," commented Alvin.

"...What do you think Phi is then, Milla?" asked Leia, a bit uneased.

"Well, I think she's an Exodus agent, just like Alvin was. If that's the case, it would very well explain why she knew the food was poisoned back in Xian Du. But, there's one more thing to consider as well. Is she a friend, or foe?"

"...Guys, I have something to say," announced Leia, feeling bad for a reason. "You see...I feel so bad for telling you guys this, but, after Milla's legs were healed, you guys were about to go to Fenmont to destroy the Lance of Kresnik, I wanted to go with you guys. I saw Phi, and talked to her for a while. She...she then helped me ride the same ship as you guys and hid me in a barrel."

"What?!" exclaimed Jude, shocked. He wasn't the only one. Milla and Alvin were also the first to hear that too. "But why didn't you tell us?"

"I couldn't! I made a promise not to!"

"Why would she make you promise not to tell us?" asked Alvin.

"Obviously because she does not wish for you all to know she has helped Leia onto that ship," replied Muzet.

"But why?" asked Jude.

"That brings more reason to think she's an Exodus agent," said Milla.

"But I don't think this is connected," said Jude. "I mean, I don't think that the promise Leia made and Phi being an Exodus agent isn't really relevant. But the case with the food poisoning is stronger. How did Phi find out the food was poisoned, if she didn't eat any?"

Just then, Elize ran towards the group, panting for breath. "Oh! Everyone's here! Good!"

"What's going on, Elize?" asked Leia, worried.

"Well, me and Rowen were taking a walk to the park, but then all of a sudden, we heard Ivar and Phi arguing and yelling at each other!"

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes! According to both of them, Phi was upset and angry that Ivar kept fooling around. First, the Lance of Kresnik, then her being injured due to Ivar pressing the button back at the battleship, which activated the machines, and Ivar kept insulting Jude! Ivar kept making excuses, but Phi's not buying them, so they just kept on arguing. Rowen's trying to calm them down, but it's not working!"

"Okay, let's go then!" decided Jude. When the group finally arrived at the park, where Ivar, Phi, and Rowen were, they saw that Ivar and Phi had calmed down a bit, but they were still arguing at each other. Rowen was seen trying to calm them down, but at the same time, he had a headache.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" yelled Phi so loud, everyone covered their ears.

"Jeeze, whatever Ivar said to tick her off definitely worked," joked Alvin.

"Anyways, we have to stop them!" reminded Jude.

"...And I've got one more thing to say to you!" shouted Phi. "Damn you, and damn everything you say!"

Ivar gasped. "How dare you say that to me! You dare say that to the awesome Ivar?!"

"Yeah! I do! Why don't you just get out of my sight?"

"Easy solution then. Just close your eyes."

"Leave before I make yours black. The last guy I fought ended up falling to the skies from a flying battleship."

"That guy shouldn't have messed with a pilot, then. Specifically, me."

"Shut...up," growled Phi, her left eye twitching.

"...Fine. I don't have time to deal with you, anyways." With that said, Ivar walked away from the park. Jude's group decided now would be the now to intervene.

"Uh...Phi? What was that all about?" asked Jude.

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about Ivar. We were just talking. I'll make sure he never insults you again," said Phi, a bit of determination in her eyes.

"Rowen, are you alright?" asked Elize, concerned.

Rowen wiped some sweat from his handkerchief. "Don't worry. That was just an intense battle, is all."

"Phi, there is something I want to ask you," questioned Milla seriously. "I'm going straight to the point. Are you an Exodus member?"

Phi looked surprised. "What? No, why do you ask?"

"Because it seemed as if you knew the food was poisoned back in Xian Du. How did you know that the food was poisoned? The only explanation is if you are an Exodus member," said Milla. "So fess up. Who are you, really?"

"Well, I'm not part of Exodus if that's what you're asking," answered Phi. "I'm not part of the Rashugal army or Auj Oule, or an spirit. I'm simply a normal human being, is all. Besides, if I really was from Exodus, then I would have killed you long ago."

"Alvin didn't kill me when he had the chance," countered Milla.

"True, but that was because I always got in his way. Making sure he didn't betray any of you since I swore I wouldn't let him."

"Fine, but how did you know the food was poisoned?"

"Poison particles in food often give off a sparkle when you examine it carefully," explained Phi. "I looked at my food, and I saw a sparkle in it. I knew instantly that it was poisoned. That's how I knew."

"You're lying. If so, why didn't you mention that earlier?"

"There was never the time and place to ask. Besides, me and Alvin already confronted the real murderer. He was the one who poisoned the food after all."

"I'll believe that the one who poisoned the food was the one you described," admitted Milla. "But tell me this. Leia told us that you made her promise that she couldn't tell us that it wasn't a coincidence she met us after my legs were healed. Why did you make her promise that?"

Phi looked stunned as she glanced at Leia, then back at Milla. "...What? I don't...I don't understand what you're talking about."

"...Phi, it's okay," said Leia, sadly. "Don't pretend anymore. I...I broke my promise. I told them..."

"You...no...you told them...?" muttered Phi quietly, shocked. _'YOU IDIOT! I TRUSTED YOU! How could you do this to me?! You betrayed me!' _Phi wanted to scream. Instead, she relaxed her shoulders before regaining her calm look. "Why did you do it, Leia?"

"I'm...really, really sorry, Phi. I didn't want to, but...I couldn't trust you."

"I...I see. Make sense," sighed Phi, giving off a small, but sad look. "You had to make a choice that was right for you. And you did. Don't worry. I'm not mad at you. But...I am a bit sad." _'Why?! Why did she do it?! T-that liar! I can't believe it! No, I have to stay calm, and forgive Leia, even if I don't want to,' _thought Phi, thinking of what she really wanted to say.

Leia looked away, unable to look at Phi in the eye. Milla continued to pester Phi. "Alright, I'll start from the beginning. When we first met you, it was in Fort Gandala. You met up with Jude, Alvin, and Rowen and teamed up with them to rescue me, Elize, and Driselle. During our escape, you stayed behind the give us time to escape. That much, I'm grateful. But, whatever you did back there, you were heavily injured. Anyways, after we arrived in Leronde and healed my legs, you possibly woke up much earlier than the rest of us did and found Leia at the sea port. According to her, you made her promise not to tell us the plan to ship her to the same ship we were about to go to. You got a barrel and stuffed straw in there before letting Leia hide in there. Then, you carried the barrel to the same ship we were traveling, and hid yourself as well. Am I correct so far?"

"Yeah, everything you said, you got right so far," said Phi.

"Right, but I'm assuming you didn't want to be seen by us when we landed. Unfortunely, your plan to not be seen failed. After we traveled to Xian Du, and were about to eat the food there, you made everyone stop. Luckily, only a few people ate it. If it weren't for your warning, everyone would be dead. You didn't guess that the food was poisoned, did you? You knew, because you're an Exodus agent, aren't you?"

"Hey, lay off," said Phi, really annoyed. "I already told you, I'm not. And I've already explained why I knew the food was poisoned." _'By the way, thanks for leaving me back in Xian Du, you jerks,' _Phi wanted to say.

"Despite all the terrible things that's happened before, you still traveled with us. That's a little suspicious, and don't say something like what's wrong with another person traveling with another person," continued Milla. "You're too calm, and almost nothing seems to faze you. And what about back in the battleship? You almost sound like you knew the machines were about to be activated when Ivar was about to press a button. So, what's going on? Why did you know that?"

"...I just...I just knew..."

"That's not a valid answer!"

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Phi. "But not everything has an answer. This is getting really old."

"I don't care if it's getting ancient!" shouted Milla. "I don't know nor trust you, but you seemed to know us somehow. The only logical explanation is that you're an Exodus agent! So, fess up. Who are you?"

"...Milla, I'm glad you're being honest, but...Everything you're saying, it's just theories."

"What are you talking about, Phi?" asked Rowen.

"Well, say that I am a part of Exodus. I could have easily killed you, Milla. Anytime I wanted to. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have said anything about the poisoned food, and if you ate it, you'd die. As for me being a spirit, you don't have any proof that I am one, and even if I did have an unusual amount of mana that normally a spirit would have, that's not conclusive evidence. And then there's that button back at the battleship. I thought Ivar, being the idiot he was, would mess up. That's why I tried to stop him. It's just...why don't you trust me?"

"Because you're suspicious," answered Milla.

"Look, just forget about it. This is getting nowhere," sighed Phi.

"Nice try, but you're not going to get away that easily. I'm sorry Phi, but you dropped a real bomb this time, and I'm not going to ignore it. So why do you know everything that's going on?"

"And I told you before, I don't know!" Both Phi and Milla started yelling at each other for several minutes, but no matter what Milla asked her, Phi could never satisfy her with a simple answer. Eventually, Milla gave up.

"Fine. This isn't over though," warned Milla. As she walked away, Muzet followed her from behind, leaving Phi with Elize, Jude, Rowen, Leia, and Alvin.

"...I'm sorry. I...I have to go," said Leia before running off in a different direction.

"Leia, please wait!" called Elize before running after her.

"...I won't be able to provide you all an answer, you know," Phi told Jude, Alvin, and Rowen.

"If it makes you feel better, I trust you," assured Alvin. "After all, you trusted me even though I kept betraying you."

"Phi, I...I want to trust you, but Milla's right. You are suspicious," said Jude. "I'm sorry, but we're still friends, and-"

"Stop, just stop," said Phi. "Don't say something that isn't true. I'd rather take the painful truth, then take the painless lie. Don't worry. I...I want to still help you and Milla with this operation tommorow. So...don't get mad at anyone, especially Milla, alright?" Not waiting for an answer, Phi left to return to the inn.

_'...As much as I hate to do this, I...I have to forgive Leia and the others, no matter how many times. I'm not allowed to hurt them, touch them, or distrust them. If I do, I might cause a butterfly effect, and they'll die. I can't let that happen. So, no matter how painful, I have to trust them, even if it costs my life,' _thought Phi, so much stress on her mind as she stood in the snow.

* * *

**Wow, that is messed up for Phi, don't you think? Eventually, though, she'll have to break down under all that stress. Yeah, Ivar is mainly responsible for Exodus coming if you think about it. Anyways, tell me what your opinion on this chapter is, please! Read and review!**


	17. ESS Zenethra part 1

**Hey, I'm making the next two chapters as part 1 and part 2, starting with this one! This chapter is going to be a bit funny in its own way by the way. Here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs! **

* * *

Early the next morning, the battleship was fully repaired and ready to go anytime. Everyone was a little bit uneased after what happened yesterday, mostly about the whole invasion on the battleship, but there was another issue as well. Everyone really wondered if they could trust Phi, despite what she's done for them. In fact, they were rather suspicious of her. Leia didn't talk to Phi, for she thought she might be mad that she broke her promise. Everyone else talked to each other, but it was only short talk.

Jude and everyone else wasn't fully their usual selves. Milla kept a very close eye on Phi, Leia and even Elize kept avoiding Phi, and the boys didn't know what to do but act their usual selves. Of course, Ivar was joining the expedition, much to Phi's dislike, but at least he didn't fool for a few hours.

Once Gaius's army, both Rashugal and Auj Oule soldiers, was assembled, Gaius announced, "Once, we turned our swords upon each other and fought for control of Rieze Maxia. Today, we come together not as enemies, but as allies. We have already located the enemy's headquarters, a ship known as the Zenethra. Fear not the battle to come, brothers. United, we will not falter. Together, we shall reclaim our world!"

Everyone cheered, now more determined thanks to Gaius's speech. As Wingul ordered the men to set sail, a soldier cried, "Your Highness! We have detected a high energy channeling circle surrounding all of Rieze Maxia!"

Suddenly, everyone fell to their knees as their bodies grew weaker and weaker, especially the certain two spirits. It sppears that mana was pouring out of everyone's-no, the entire world's bodies! "They're using the Lance of Kresnik to absorb the entire world's mana!" cried Jude, struggling to get up.

"I won't let them hurt my people! I will protect Rieze Maxia!" muttered Gaius with nobility. He stood up, confident and full of willpower, and ordered, "Make us airborne!"

Once the battleship was risen higher and higher above the clouds, everyone was safe and no longer having their mana drained. Once the soldiers ran to work on their stations, everyone else rested to regain their lost mana. "It would seem the channeling circle has no effect on this altitude," decided Rowen.

"Are you okay?" Leia asked both Elize and Phi.

"I've got an awful headache," groaned Elize, her face pale.

"Yeah, thanks for asking," muttered Phi. Her body was already used to being mana-drained, because back in the future, she had her body drained of mana every single day for about a year. She was ashamed of admitting it, but she was scared of feeling that again.

"Maybe I should take both of you to the infirmary. I'll come with you," said Leia before taking both Elize and Phi's hands. When they arrived, they saw a few soldiers sleeping in some of the infirmary beds. Most likely, they had too much of their mana drained and were currently resting until the operation started.

"Are you alright, Leia?" asked Elize gently.

"No worries! I'm okay! A little mana draining isn't going to stop me!" assured Leia. "Now, why don't the both of you get some sleep? I'll wake you guys up when we're there."

"Wait," interrupted Phi. "I've got two things to say. One, I'm not going to sleep. I'm fine, thanks. And two, we kinda have to talk. Don't worry, it won't take long."

Leia got a bit unsteady, but pulled up a stool before sitting on it. "...Is this about yesterday? Are you going to ask me why I broke our promise?"

"No. That's all in the past. I could care less about that," replied Phi, surprising Leia. It was only yesterday that Leia broke their promise, and Phi acts like it's been a long time? "Anyways, I want you two to make me a simple, but serious promise."

"What is it?" asked Elize, curious what this kind of promise is. She knew that Phi always keeps her promises, especially swears, but it seems this promise is different, since it's directed towards her and Leia.

"Alright, no matter what happens in the future, I want you two to promise to always trust and believe in Milla. Even if it seems hopeless and you doubt her, just trust her."

"Why? We already trust Milla! She's amazing in every other way!" replied Leia, surprised to hear such a request.

"Just listen. I can tell that the more you start the trust me, the more you doubt Milla and pretty soon, I know you'll go against her and choose me over her. I can't let that happen," explained Phi. "So, worse case scenario, when the time comes, choose her over me. Trust her more than me. I...I'm not trustsworthy, ever. I-you guys can't trust me anymore."

"We understand we can trust Milla, but why can't we trust you?" questioned Elize, more confused. "Is Milla telling the truth? Are you really part of Exodus?"

"No, but it's fine if you guys suspect me as the villain. Heck, I might even be more suspicious than Alvin, that big fat liar," spoke Phi, adding a light tone. "But seriously, just promise me that you'll choose Milla's side over mine. Okay?"

"But-" started Leia.

"No buts. What's your answer, both of you?" Both Leia and Elize glanced at each other, worried looks on their faces before turning back to Phi and nodding their heads in agreement. "Good. Any questions?"

"Well...is this promise supposed to be a secret like the last time?" asked Leia.

"No. You can tell the others for all I care. I'll going back to the deck. Get some rest, both of you." Phi sat up, and quietly left the infirmary before taking the stairs and heading back up the deck. She spotted Alvin near the railings, staring at the cloudy skies while in deep thought. Phi walked up to him, and to get his attention, she tugged on his sleeve. "Alvin?"

Alvin snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head towards the smaller girl. "Oh hey, squirt," he welcomed, ruffling her hair. "What can I do for ya?"

"Alvin...thank you for...for trusting me when no one else would," thanked Phi. "But, why did you trust me?"

Alvin rubbed the back of his neck and stretched his arm out before replying, "Well, I was just doing the same thing you did to me before. Back when I betrayed you guys for the first time, you were the only person who trusted me at that point. And when we talked back at the cave, you still trusted me. I was just returning the favor. By the way, do you still trust me?"

"Do you even need to ask? Of course I do,' said Phi. "But, thanks. I feel a little better now."

"Hey, no skin off my back."

"Ahem, excuse me," announced Rowen, who was behind them, making them yelp in surprise. "But, I do need to tell the both of you something. According to the engineers and pilot of this aircraft, it'll be approximately 5 hours before we arrive at our destination."

"Alright, so it's 8 in the morning, so we'll probably arrive by 1," calculated Alvin, glancing at his watch. He yawned, obviously still sleepy. "Well, it's time I catch some shut-eye. Wake me up when we get there, 'kay?"

Before Alvin could walked away, Phi grabbed onto his arm. "Hold on a minute."

'What's wrong?' questioned Rowen. "Is there something you wish to talk about?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I need you guys to promise me something important, okay? Promise me that you'll trust Milla no matter what happens in the future."

"That's...pretty odd of you to say something like that, Phi," admitted Alvin. "Why ask us to promise something like that? We already trust Milla."

"Yes, but I get the feeling that you guys are going to choose me than Milla when the time comes. I won't let your friendship be in jeopardy because of me. So, promise that you'll always trust Milla no matter what. Promise?"

"...Very well. I promise," agreed Rowen.

"Sure. Okay," said Alvin, holding up his hands so that his fingers weren't crossing to prove he wasn't lying.

"Cross your hearts?"

"Cross my heart," both Rowen and Alvin stated in unison, pointing to where their hearts should be.

"You're gonna be in a world of pain if you double-cross Milla," threatened Phi. "And I'll see to it that it happens."

"Don't sweat it. I'm a man of my word," assured Alvin.

"I have just one question, Phi," spoke up Rowen. "Why ask us this? Did Jude or Milla put you up to this?"

"None of them had anything to do with this. It was my decision to make you guys promise to this. Well, if that's it, I'll be going now. See you guys later." Once Phi walked away from them, she went to go and find at least Jude so she could convince him to make the same promise, which shouldn't be hard, considering that the boy was already in love with Milla. When she finally found him, she saw him and Milla together, talking to each other seriously near some railings in a different area.

"...No, it's okay. I'll tell her," said Jude as soon as Phi walked up to him. "Oh, Phi. There you are. I have to speak to you."

"So do I. But I'll let you talk first." It's taking everything inside Phi to bottle up her own feelings and not unleash her negative feelings towards Jude and Milla the moment she saw them. Phi's killing her emotions even now, to surpress her feelings, so that she'll still act like the mature, short-tempered girl everyone knows.

"Phi, me and Milla talked about what happened yesterday," started Jude. "And...we decided to say that you're not a spirit. You're completely human, just as you say."

"Well, that's a relief to hear that," said Phi, her mood a bit lighten.

"But..." Jude knew he was about to say something he shouldn't do. Even so, he has to say it while he still can, even if it's cruel. "Phi, I'm sorry, but...you should leave the group. For good." Phi looked puzzled, and stunned, as to be expected. Jude continued, "I'm not saying right now, but after this whole operation is over. I...we think it's for the best."

"..." Phi was only stunned for a few seconds, but once she regained herself, she asked in an emotionless voice, "So, that means you don't trust me?"

'...Yeah. You've got lots of expectations waiting for you in the future, right? Then you should go out into the world, and do what you can to fufill them."

"Then, why don't you talk to Elize about the same thing too? Unless you're planning to talk to her the same thing after you're done with me?'

"No. Rowen and Driselle will take care of her in Sharilton. But, the main reason we're kicking you out, is because we think you're suspicious. You...keep too many secrets from us. Alvin does keep secrets, but he eventually reveals them. You're different, though. But, even if you're gone, we'll always remember we had a reliable ally on our side once."

"...A reliable ally, huh? Not a friend?" asked Phi, making Jude immediantly regret his choice of words.

"N-no, I mean-I-I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. But...can't I make one final request? Can I see both you and Milla off at Nia Khera one last time? I'll go away after that."

"...Alright," agreed Jude, nodding his head in sadness.

"All right then. I promise. Thank you for...for taking a girl like me to your adventures. It was really fun." _'Those jerks! They accepted Alvin after he betrayed them so many times, but after I 'betray' them only one time, they decided to throw me off?! The nerve!' _thought Phi angrily.

Before Phi could walk away, Milla called, "Wait. Me and Jude talked about this, but I was the one who suggested to kicking you out of our group. If you want to blame someone, blame me instead."

Phi didn't turn to face her. Instead, she said, "No, it's fine. I'm not blaming anyone for this but me. I didn't reveal myself too much, so that's why. Hey, Jude? You're pretty lucky to be with a good person like Milla. That's...all I have to say for now." Jude tried to stop her from leaving, but Milla put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. He just watched her as she left. Even though she was still going to remain until the operation was over, her leaving right now almost seemed like she was leaving them for good.

Several hours later, Jude was told by Agria that they were soon approaching the Zenethra and went to go tell his friends. He took a quick worried glance at Phi, who was staring blankly at the sea of clouds ever since their talk, before he stepped upstairs to meet up with Rowen, Alvin, Elize, Muzet, and Leia.

"Bad news, kid," started Alvin as soon as Jude went up to them. "They say a whole fleet of flying battleships is gathering around the Zenethra."

The whole battleship-no, the entire skies around the world started shaking, and out of nowhere, from a far distance, a pillar of colorful light shot up from the clouds and towards the endless blue sky. Everyone got on deck to see the whole commotion and saw the pillar of light.

"Jude, what was that?!" asked Leia.

"It was just like the Lance of Kresnik, wasn't it?" spoke Elize.

"No doubt the Zenethra was the actual source of that light," replied Wingul, staring at the pillar of light.

"And I think that it put another hole in the schism," theorized Milla seriously.

"Maybe they sent the mana they gathered back to Elympios," suggested Alvin.

"Looks like your fuel plan theory was right," voiced Jude.

Alvin sighed. "It seems like the only time that I'm right is when I'm talking about a worse-case scenario."

**"Enemy ship approaching! Everyone, brace for impact!" **commanded Ivar, who was in the engine commanding center of the battleship with some workers to help him. Gaius's battleship and the enemy's battleship started firing lasers at each other, but they missed. Then, the enemy's battleship took an unexpected turn and crashed into their battleship, startling everyone and making most of the crew knock off their feet.

"There's our welcoming comittee," muttered Milla, struggling to get on her feet after that sudden crash. Exodus soldiers flew from their battleship using jetpacks and landed on deck, spyrix weapons at hand. Rashugal and Auj Oule soldiers roared a battle cry before charging towards the enemy with their own regular weapons. Far distance Exodus soldiers used their cannons to fire electricity at the soldiers, taking several of them down. Everyone else scattered or worked together to beat the countless enemies with dangerous spyrix weapons.

Phi backflipped and started dealing heavy blows from her kicks mostly while Alvin was firing all over the place. They stood back-to-back against each other, and decided mentally that Alvin would deal with far range, and Phi would handle close-range. Taking on the lightest opponents first, Phi grabbed two of them by the sleeves, and with all her might flipped them straight into the air before running towards her next opponent. Alvin twirls his gun and fires two large shots in the air, immediantly eliminating the two foes. As more Exodus soldiers were flying downwards from their battleship, Phi leaped off the ground and performed an upwards double kick on the nearest one's jetpack, rendering it useless. Next, as she was falling downwards, she punched diagonally twice agaionst a flying Exodus soldier, making him go out of control and fall to his doom. Phi landed down safely next to Alvin, who was continuously shooting and slicing his foes.

"Phi! Leap into the air! Now!" ordered Alvin, who finished loading his guns. "Break Shot!" The moment Phi obeyed, Alvin sweeps the ground with his, firing at every enemy on the same grounds as him, eliminating several of Exodus members. "Chamber Trigger!" Facing heavily armored guards on his own, Alvin concentrated on his aim and fired swift and powerful shots, one for each enemy, piercing through their armor and straight through their hearts. Using some wind spirits, Phi landed gently back on the ground near Alvin.

"Alvin! Let's do this!" called Phi, gathering mana for the next swarm of Exodus soldiers heading their way. Alvin nodded and charged up his gun. "Mystic Quasar!" Moving her arms in a circular motion, Phi quickly createsd a glyph of wind power, firing three rays, while Alvin fired one flaming bullet from his gun. The three rays flew past the bullet, then merged with it to increase its offensive capacity before it shot through the swarm of soldiers like a bowling bowl smashing through some bowling pins.

In the meantime, Leia and Elize were working together since Leia declared they were the perfect 'girl team.' Elize obviously wasn't much of a fighter when it came to close combat, but Leia was, so Elize handled artes from a far-distance. All Elize did was assist Leia by casting supportive artes, increasing Leia's stats dramatically and making her fight more and more. Leia started spinning around, twirling her staff around so fast, it was almost invisible to see, and an incoming attack that knocked away more enemies.

"Elize! Are you ready?!" called Leia, who stopped her staff dance of fury and positioned herself. Elize nodded and channeled enough spirits to make a glyph in front of her as Leia did the same as well. "Terror Quake!" both cried together. From the glyph Leia created, the glyph fired large rocks at some Exodus soldiers while Elize's glyph fired a large dark laser, rotating as it hit more and more foes.

Jude and Rowen were shown to be quite a good team together, having no problems taking down the enemies surrounding them. "Ground Breaker!" The moment Jude slammed his fist into the ground, Rowen threw a knife as well, sending several stalagmites heading towards the enemy's way. Some far-distance foes fired flames from their spyrix cannons, but Jude and Rowen evaded them on time and charged toward them.

However, as more and more time has passed, countless more soldiers kept coming on board, and everyone was starting to get fatigue. If this kept going, they would be surrounded or killed because they were too exhausted. Milla blocked an enemy's weapon on time and called out, "Gaius!"

Gaius sliced through his foes before yelling, "Helmsman! Maintain course and ram into the Zenethra!"

Ivar was a bit unsure about that decision, but with all the chaos going on, he solemnly agreed. **"Alright, fine, if you say so! Just don't try to blame me if we crash and burn!" **

**SPLASH! CRASH! **With a sudden loud sound, Ivar sailed the battleship and made it crash into the ocean, luckily not deep. The crash caused large waves to rise, but not high enough to flood the ship as it started sailing towards the E.S.S. Zenethra. As soon as it did, it immediantly crashed into the Zenethra, making a louder rigid sound. When the two battleships collided, Jude was the first to jump out of the battleship he was in into the Zenethra, where there was a group of Exodus soldiers waiting. He rolled out of the way just in time to dodge three blows from some cannons.

Before one of the Exodus soldiers could fire at Jude, however, his throat was cut by a sudden wind slash that came from Milla as she jumped from the previous battleship. She landed gracefully next to Jude, and the two of them prepared to fight as their allies arrived just in time to fight with them. The battleship Ivar was controlling was firing multiple shots from its small cannons, taking down several Exodus soldiers that were flying from the sky.

"Enough!" commanded Muzet, soaring upwards where the other enemy battleships were. "Naughty children must learn to play nice!" Once she was high enough, she stopped, and concentrated on creating a large orb of immense mana to destroy one of the battleships from the inside. Soon, she was doing the same for the other battleships save for the previous one she was in, and everyone watched in astonishment as Milla's younger sister did so. With a heavy thud, the destroyed battleships fell from the skies and crashed deep into the oceans, separating their former battleship and the Zenethra away before exploding.

"That was incredible," gasped Jude, unable to believe what he had just seen.

Milla flew downwards at her sister's side. "I seemed to have regain my powers thanks to your teethering."

_'Wait, he WHAT?! This wasn't in the history books!' _thought Phi, shocked since she knew what 'teethering' was for spirits and humans.

"I never imagined you would possess such power," admitted Milla, impressed.

"Of course! She's your big sis!" cheered Leia.

"I am happy to lend my power to your cause," said Muzet.

"What are you planning to do?' asked Milla, curious.

"The mission would fail if the ship were to fall, yes?"

"I see. It sounds like we'll have to continue asking fo your assistance."

"Thank you Muzet. Take care," said Jude, giving her luck.

Muzet nodded in agreement before turning to Milla. "Milla, do not forget that you are Maxwell." With that said, Muzet flew upwards to stand on guard and prevent any other approaching enemy battleships from assisting or coming any further to the Zenethra.

Rowen turned to Milla and reminded her, "We must act quickly, while the enemy reinforcements are being blocked."

"...We should split into two groups," Milla suggested.

"We must put a stop to their plans right here," said Gaius, turning his back on Jude's team. "Our targets are Gilland and the Lance of Kresnik."

Out of nowhere, Ivar leaped from the previous battleship into the Zenethra. "At your service, lady Milla."

Phi was really worried and scared for Ivar's safety now that he was here. She remembered that Ivar was captured by the enemy, and somehow escaped when the Zenethra was sinking, but she didn't know how. But, she did know that if she let him get killed, Evan would never be born. "Hey! Stay out of our way!" shouted Teepo.

Ivar laughed inconfidence. "Of course! I shall join Gaius's capable crew."

"Think you can fill Jiao's shoes in the Chimeriad?" questioned Wingul.

"Easily! Just watch me!"

"No, that can't happen," spoke up Phi. "Ivar can't go with Gaius's group, as much as I hate to admit it."

"And what gives you the power to justify that?" asked Ivar, mad at Phi.

"Yeah, I kinda thought you'd be happy about this, Phi," Leia had to agree.

"Well, look at the senile old fart's background," started Phi. "He activated the Lance of Kresnik, which sent Exodus soldiers here in Rieze Maxia. Before all that, he abandoned his duties just to help out 'Lady Milla.' Then, at the battleship, he activated some buttons which sent killer machines after us! After all that, there's no way anyone would leave him alone for a second."

"Okay, we'll do a vote then," suggested Jude calmly. "Who wants Ivar to join Gaius's group? Raise your hand." Alvin, Milla, Leia, Rowen, Elize, and even Jude raised their hands, except for Phi. "Well, it's decided then."

"Now, get over here, slacker!" called Agria as she and her team walked away first.

"How rude! But I shall let it slide!" said Ivar, running after them. Phi sighed, lowering her head in depression and frustration as Elize gently patted her head to reassure her. After that, their group headed towards another area of the ship, encountering some Exodus soldiers who were waiting for them.

"Attack!" cried out Milla, taking her sword out from her scabbard. Taking her sword out, she made an extremely long-ranged horizontal attack on the first enemy she saw, cutting him up quickly. Everyone on each side soon followed and began attacking one another.

Rowen was having very difficulty against three armored guards since his rapier only focuses on agility. He tried to stab his weapon against one, but it was blocked by one of the shields, and he was pushed back. He nimbly dodged a sword strike from behind, but got a little cut on the side and stumbled forward. He stabbed forward with swift speed, but it only created a small dent on a soldier's shield. Just as that soldier thrusted his lance forward, Phi arrived and sliced vertically with her katana, slicing off half of the lance, rendering it useless. With all her might, Phi grabbed hold of the soldier's shield, giving an opening to his chest, and stabbed at his chest as deep as she could, killing him.

"Rowen? You okay? Glad I made it on time!" Phi said, next to Rowen. Rowen nodded in approval before mustering up the strength to summon a water-type glyph placed in front of him. "Frigid Slaughter!" both yelled in unison. As Rowen fired sharp icicle pikes, Phi slashed using wind based artes on her katana, both making the wind slashes ahead of the icicles before they made contact with their foes.

"Dragon's Ascend!" hollered Alvin, lifting up his longsword with both his hands and swinging it in a strong arc while rising to the air. Once he landed back on ground, he brought up his sword to shield himself against bullets from other Exodus's guns. Some flew past the sword and hit Alvin's cheek, his arm, and his knee, injuring him a little. He couldn't move from his spot because at the same time, he was protecting Elize from harm, who was behind him, frantically trying to cast healing artes on him. "Gah!" He cried, taking another bullet to the knee, causing his injured knee to fall down.

Milla arrived in time, and whipped out her sword in a vertical slash, taking out some marksman from behind. As some of the other marksman turned their attention to her, Elize decided to distract them with Teepo as she healed Alvin. Teepo chomped on one of the Exodus soldier's head, while the soldier was trying to get Teepo off of him. Using that distraction, Milla slashed with her sword, blocked any attacks, while Alvin assisted her by countering with his gun.

"Cross Edge!" both Jude and Leia shouted in unison. Leia swung her staff to the right, while Jude punched to the left, formed a sharp, wind cross that got rid of the rest of the Exodus soldiers in the area.

Leia picked up a strange device that Phi recognized as a radio, and asked, "What is this?"

"It's called a radio,' answered Alvin, who was handed the radio by Leia. Alvin fumbled around with it to get it working. "Handy gizmo. You use it to communicate from far distances."

_"We captured one of the intruders. Deploy all combat personnel immediantly," _voiced a man from the radio, surprising everyone except Phi.

_"W-what do you want with me?! Who do you think you're talking to!" _shouted Ivar's irritating, yet recognizable voice from the radio. _"You can't do this! I will not lose again!" _

"Sounds like Ivar got caught. Shall we go recue him?" Jude asked Milla. Before Milla could answer, she and the others heard and saw Phi running off somewhere, so they ran after her as well, wondering what was going on.

"Wait, Phi! Stop! Where are you going?" shouted Jude, making Phi stop when he grabbed her arm. "Did you forget something?"

"I...I..." Phi sighed, her shoulders drooping. "...Go on ahead, you guys. With me gone, you should have less baggage to carry once you've arrived to wherever Gilland is at. So just go."

"Wait, are you going to try and rescue Ivar?" asked Leia.

"...Yes."

"Why?" wondered Alvin. "We can just go rescue him after-"

"No!" yelled Phi, startling him. "We won't have time! I have to go rescue him, now!"

"I thought you hated Ivar," said Rowen.

"Not enough to let him die, though."

"If you go, you'll be considered as part of Exodus, and we might have to face you as our enemy," warned Milla. "Are you okay with that?"

"Milla!" cried Elize, horrified.

"She has a point, unfortunely," Rowen had to agree. "I'm not saying I agree with her, but Phi's been too suspicious. She'll probably report to Gilland or something like that."

"...Please," pleaded Phi desperately. "I don't care if I die or get punished by you guys, just...let me save Ivar."

"Why? Phi, why would you do all this just to save Ivar? Sure he helped us out and provided us sometimes with information and he's on our side, but we can't save him right now," Jude tried to convince.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but please, this is an important issue!"

"Then please, tell me what is the issue?" asked Milla, just about fed up with Phi and her secrets.

"Being a human being. I can't just ditch Ivar. I'm staying behind, whether you like it or not."

Jude whispered to something with Rowen and Milla quietly, and after a while, they turned to face Phi. "Alright, Phi," agreed Jude. "But, you'll have to take someone or two with you."

"Sure. Thanks for believing in me," sighed Phi in relief. "How about...Alvin and Leia?"

"No," refused Milla. "Leia can go, but I won't have both you and Alvin conspiring together."

"Damnit, we don't have time for this!" muttered Phi. "Alright, what about Rowen? Or anyone! I don't care! I have to go save Ivar now!"

"Fine, Rowen and Leia will go with you," decided Milla. "Is that alright with the both of you?"

"Yes, certainely."

'Yup! Don't worry, we'll be back in a flash!"

"Wait. You should know that somewhere inside the ship, there are two security rooms," informed Alvin. "One is a new one installed inside, while the other is an old one that's currently being repaired. No one's using that room, so maybe you could use the security fotage to find Ivar, alright? Just head that way, and you should find the security room in the plaque on the door."

The two teams nodded to each other before taking off towards their destinations. Pretty soon, inside the ship, Phi, Rowen, and Leia saw a plaque on a door that said, **"Security." **Once they leaned their faces against the door, they heard people talking and typing, so that room was occupied. In no time at all, they found another room like that, but it was empty and dark. They quickly closed the door and turned on the lights. Inside was a really strange room, but mostly with Rashugal equipment and some other technology they've never seen before.

As they began investigating, they were sure not to make too much noise so that soldiers wouldn't have heard them and barge in. Rowen and Phi walked up to a big huge black screen with nine spaces in it. "This must be the main monitoring station," replied Rowen, examining it.

"It looks like all nine of those small screens aren't powered up," said Phi. "The question is, how do we power them up?"

Leia opened a small door with a thunderbolt icon on it and revealed nine red switches which were probably deactivated. Out of curiousity, Leia flipped the first switch she saw, which made some kind of start up sound. Not only that, but it opened one of the nine screens in the large black board Rowen and Phi were seeing.

'Leia, what did you do?" asked Phi, surprised.

"I just flipped a switch right here. See?" Leia began flipping all the switches, which activated the other small eight screens. Once that was done, the trio glanced through all the screens. The first screen had the kitchen where the workers were cooking, the second was showing outside the deck where soldiers were fighting each other, the third showed Gilland in a huge room, the fourth revealed Jude and the others fighting in an area, the fifth showed a jail cell, the sixth revealed some crew quarters which were empty, the seventh showed an infirmary where lots of Exodus soldiers were being treated, the eighth showed another part of the dock, and the ninth showed Ivar being escorted in another part of the deck.

"There! The ninth one!" shouted Phi, pointing to the ninth screen. Ivar sat down on a chair and began typing on the keyboard, trying to figure out how to use the computer and the monitor. A few minutes later, he got in and clicked a button which showed where Ivar was.

* * *

_Upper Deck, 6:39 P.M. _

_"Let me go! Get off of me!" shouted Ivar, struggling as he was being lead by some light-weighted soldiers who were well armed._

_"Silence. We're taking you to our boss, and he'll decide what to do with you. Though, you won't really survive," replied one of the soldiers, shoving him forward. _

* * *

"Well, looks like we found Ivar, at least," said Phi. "Alright, what now? I know for a fact that the upper deck is nearby, so if we go there now, we should have a chance."

"Wait, check this out!" said Leia, picking up a megaphone. "Maybe this is a radio! Ahem! Attention! One, two, three! Testing! Hello?" Leia's voice echoed throughout all the ship, and it was clear because Phi and Rowen could hear it too.

"Hey, put that down! You're going to give our spot away!" warned Phi.

"I hear voices in this room! But this security room was supposed to be repaired soon!" one Exodus soldier from behind the door replied. "Hey you! Whoever you are, come on out! Or we'll have to barge in!"

"We must get out of here immediantly!" said Rowen, trying to find another way out. He glanced up, and saw a vent wide enough for a single person to go through. "Yes! We have found a way! Phi, can you climb up there and break the vent's entrance?"

"Use this too!" said Leia, picking up a screwdriver and handing it to Phi. Phi took it and Rowen lifted her up his shoulders, allowing her to unscrew the screws on the vent's entrance. She threw the vent's entrance down the ground and climbed inside the vent while Rowen was helping Leia up his shoulders. Phi grabbed Leia's hands and helped herself. Once that was done, both girls helped Rowen in as well, and just in time, because the Exodus soldiers barged into the room. Without waiting for them, the three hurried onto where the vent was leading them.

Once they arrived to the other side, they found themselves on a high deck, close to the upper deck. "Whew! We made it, huh?" said Leia. Before Phi could move, she saw an emergency float tube nearby and grabbed it before running, confusing Leia and Rowen as they followed her. Soon, they saw Ivar still being escorted by some Exodus soldiers.

"Here! Hold this!" ordered Phi, handing the emergency float tube to Leia before running. She ran across the floor, then leaped off, perform a high jump kick towards one of the guards restricting Ivar, knocking him out. In the next few seconds, she quickly knocked out the other two soldiers, freeing Ivar. By that time, Rowen and Leia had arrived to the area, panting for breath.

"I didn't need any help you know," said Ivar, puffing out his chest.

"Says the guy who got captured," replied Phi, taking the emergency float tube from Leia. "Hey, tell you what? You want to help Milla right? Well follow us, because we know where she is now."

"We do?" wondered Leia. "Oh yeah! From the fotage!"

"Fine, take me there!" said Ivar.

"Before that happens, Milla wanted you to wear this," told Phi, handing him the emergency float tube. Confused, Ivar did so. Afterwards, Phi lead the way towards a nearby railing on the edge of the ship, which was not where Milla and the others were.

"So...where is Lady Milla?" asked Ivar, confused as Phi walked behind him. **SMACK! **Very quickly, Phi jumped and kicked Ivar off the edge of the ship, making him scream as he fell to the ocean. Luckily, he was wearing the emergency float tube, allowing him to float in the water.

"W-what?!" exclaimed Leia, shocked.

"W-what the hell are you doing?!" yelled Ivar, spitting out saltwater. "You will pay for this, you little brat!"

_'I know this was wrong, but it was so worth it,' _thought Phi, delighted. Using a water spirit arte, Phi pushed small ocean waves forward towards Ivar, forcing him to sail away unwillingly. She kept using the same arte until he was very, very far away.

"Wait, I thought we were going to rescue him, not force him away!" said Leia.

"Yeah, but I had another idea as well. That way, he'll be safe," replied Phi happily. "Anyways, we should go." Leia and Rowen nodded uneasily as they, along with Phi, ran back inside the ship to try and find Jude and the others.

* * *

**HAHA! Oh, come on! I can't be the only person who wanted to punish annoying little Ivar! I'm finished right here and now! So, enjoy this chapter! Read and review!**


	18. ESS Zenethra part 2

**And here's the second part of the E.S.S. Zenethra small saga! I should warn you that this chapter will have some major...consequences, but a spiler alert! A new character, aka one of the future kids will appear in the next chapter! Excited? Read more to find out!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

Phi, Leia, and Rowen's feet pounded across the floors of the deck. They were racing, trying to find the entrance to Gilland's location. It seemed that since they saw the security footage, they assumed Gilland was in some sort of throne room inside the ship, possibly the largest room in the ship. There was also a good chance they would encounter Jude and the others in there, or possibly still trying to find the throne room as well.

Several more minutes later, they spotted Jude's group in front of some huge doors that lead to somewhere big outside the deck, and started shouting and waving their arms to catch their attention. Eventually, they heard them and ran to where they were. "Glad we...*pant* found ya...' panted Leia.

"Are you all okay?' asked Elize, concerned for their health. "And did you find Ivar?"

"Yeah, we're more than that. We're great," chuckled Phi, her mood lighten for some reason. Jude and Alvin glanced at each other, worried and possibly a bit scared about what happened when they did find Ivar, especially with Phi.

"...Phi, I'm going to guess something bad," started Jude slowly. "Where's Ivar? What did you do?"

"Oh, him? I kicked him off the ship literally," answered Phi, walking past Jude.

_'I see,' _thought Jude, nodding his head, understanding. _'Now I understand why Phi is happy all of a sudden and-HANG ON!' _"Hold on, hold on, hold on!" cried out Jude, turning to face Phi so suddenly. "What do you mean you kicked him off the ship?!"

Phi looked annoyed and crossed her arms. "You're being annoying. It means what it means. I kicked him off the ship, thus causing him to fall into the ocean."

"But why?!"

"To keep him safe. If I let him with us, he's bound to cause more trouble. So I solved that problem by kicking him off, and pushing him away using some water artes to make the waves force him away. Don't worry. He had an emergency float tube keeping him safe. I wasn't planning to kill him by dropping him into the ocean."

"Well, at least that idiot's safe," said Alvin, placing both his hands behind his head lazily.

"...We had nothing to do with this," said Leia as she and Rowen both shook their heads in disbelief. "Oh! Have you found that nasty Gilland yet?"

"No, but perhaps these doors we will. Let's go!" commanded Milla before she push opened the doors. The group slowly walked inside carefully, examining their surroundings. Inside, the room was rather large, as to be expected, the entire floor was completely covered in glass, and Gilland was sitting alone in some stairs in a far distance. But more importantly, the Lance of Kresnik was behind him, absorbing mana until it stopped temporarily.

"What a pleasant surprise," said Gilland, giving a grim grin. "How considerate of you to deliver Maxwell to me. Tell me, Alfred Vint Svent. Why is it that you have betrayed us?"

Alvin stepped forward. 'It's simply. Because the truth is that I've always despised you."

Gilland stood up. "I see, so you're prepared to spend the rest of your life in Rieze Maxia."

"Like that matters to me," told Alvin coldly, hand urging to go grab his gun and shoot the bastard right in front of him. Then, Gilland crackled in mad laughter before summoning ice daggers behind him, targeting his foes. Everyone immediantly ducked and rolled out of the way in time. "How'd you do that?!" the mercenary grunted.

"I didn't feel any spirits die!" added Milla. "What's going on?"

"Eat this!" **BANG! **Alvin whipped out his gun in a flash and shot two bullets to Gilland's face. Then, from a portal of pure ice, the Great Spirit of Ice, Celsius, appeared from it and created a shield of ice to easily block the bullets. Celsius smashed her fist against the ice shield, shattering it into several ice shards heading towards the heroes direction. Milla created a shield of mana in time to deflect the shards.

"I see, so you're Maxwell?" spoke Celsius for the first time. "You look a bit different now."

**SMACK! **Gilland slapped Celsius in the face, silencing her. "Be quiet! Who told you to speak?!" ordered Gilland.

"...Yes, master."

"What the heck was that?!" cried Leia. "Why are you taking orders from that jerk?"

Gilland placed a hand on Celsius, who showed no emotion. "It's only natural for tools to obey their wielders."

"The only tool here is you!" shouted Leia angrily. "Spirits and humans are supposed to live in harmony!"

"My servant here is hardly your garden-variety type spirit. She's actually a spyrite."

"What?! No, that's not possible. If so, a spirit or so would have died! Milla would have sensed them!" said Phi. _'Or maybe I can, but my spirit sensing powers aren't really strong.' _

"We use boosters to recreate the spirit Celsius from the spirit fossil in which she lay dominant," explained Gilland. "She is the physical manifestation of a spirit arte itself."

"So now you're using the spyrite's mana to perform artes?!" questioned Alvin.

Gilland laughed. 'And that's why she's a tool. Does that all make sense now?"

"How could you? You're despicable!" shouted Leia.

"He's even worse than Nachtigal!" stated Phi.

"So that's why you took Teepo's data?! How could you do that to him?!" cried out Elize.

"Little lady, I need to personally thank you for that. It told us precisely how to give birth to spyrites. And how to turn Rieze Maxia into energy. And, I take it those aren't tears of joy, little lady?"

As Elize silently sobbed to herself, Phi ran to her side and rubbed her back. "No, it's alright, it wasn't your fault, Elize! Exodus is the one at fault here! Especially the Gilland bastard!"

"How can you be such a monster?!" hollered Rowen, furious.

"Conductor, I thought the curtain closed on your carrer a long time ago," replied Gilland, turning to the old man. "Why insist on an encore even now?"

"I'll have you know that I'm as stubborn as my king, Gilland," said Rowen, unsheathing his rapier. 'And I'm not about to forgive you for toying with his life!"

"We won't lose to you! No way!" agreed Jude, taking a battle stance.

"Huh, is that supposed to frighten me? You really should learn your place, boy. You don't have the power or ambition to make good on such threats!"

"You of all people have no right to talk of power or ambition!" argued Jude. "What do you know? You use them both for your twisted objectives!"

"I have little interest at all in continuing this conversation," said Milla. "But answer this one question. Do you know the difference between you and Jude?"

"Hah! As if I care!"

"...As I thought." Milla pulled out her sword, ready to fight as well. "And that's exactly what makes you a fool."

Gilland glanced behind him to see more and more mana being poured into the Lance of Kresnik. "The Lance is spooling up to absorb more mana. Come Maxwell, I'll allow you to live. However-" Taking some cartridges and loading it into his gun, he pointed to the others as he spoke. "-The rest of you will die!"

The battle started off when Alvin and Gilland started shooting at each other immediantly, blocking out each others' bullets until they ran out at the same time. Apparently, only Milla helped Alvin out, mostly because he needed close range backup, while everyone else focused on the main threat, Celsius. Of course, there were a lot of major problems to begin with, starting with the facts that Celsius could fly, and have almost unlimited mana power to use her ice artes.

"Elize! Leia! Rowen! Can you all stand back for support and backup? Me and Phi are the only ones with quick close combat as of now," ordered Jude. The three nodded before backing away, concentrating on channeling their mana for any available artes they could use. "Alright, Phi! Let's do this!"

"Way ahead of you!" she shouted. While Jude was busy strategizing, she took the opportunity to gather mana for a quick spirit arte. "Flare Shot!" Making her hands look like a gun, she pulled her finger trigger, which caused a bullet of fire to shoot from a fire glyph she created and aim at Celsius. Obviously, Celsius dodged that easily since she was in the air, but during that, Rowen fired a variety of small, weak fireballs at her, which she was forced to hold up an ice shield to block through them.

"Jude! Let me help a little!" offered Leia, rushing to him. Jude nodded, held his palms out together, and Leia quickly jumped on them before Jude threw her towards Celsius, who still held the ice shield. "Staff Rain!" Thrusting her staff multiple times, Leia smashed the ice shield apart before falling down and reuniting with Rowen and Elize.

Opening several portal behind her, Celsius silently fired countless spears of ice towards the small party fighting her. With all three together, Rowen, Leia, and Elize formed a magical shield made of fire mana to deflect and melt the spears. Once the fire shield cleared off, Jude and Phi joined forced, leaped off the ground, and sprang towards the Great Spirit of Ice.

"Scud Lancer!" both yelled in unison. Celsius quickly covered herself in tough ice, and Jude, whose fists were engulfed by flames, started rapidly punching the ice body, shattering shards of ice with every blow. Then, Phi smashed Celsius to the ground by kicking her face with an earth-based kick. Due to her quick indurance to physical attacks, she recovered rather quickly and fired icicles at Phi and Jude, who were in the air. Luckily, the icicles missed and hit the walls.

"Jude! Phi! Let me and Leia handle this one!" shouted Rowen as he and Leia stepped forward in front of them, their strength and speed increased thanks to Elize. Phi and Jude stood with Elize and prepared themselves as they watched Leia and Rowen fight against the ice spirit. Apparently, Celsius decided not to be a close combat user for now and face the battle head on by flying downwards in the ground and getting into a fighting stance.

With sudden speed, Celsius charged towards Leia, who prepared herself. Celsius started punching at Leia, who accurately blocked her fists with her staff. Next, Leia tried to leg sweep Celsius, who backflipped in time. She nimbly dodged all the swift stabs coming from Rowen as he tried to stab her, before Celsius counterattacked by delivering a hard kick to his side, punching him with weak, but rapid punches to the stomach, then pushing him farther back with another hard kick. Rowen grunted in pain as he fell to one knee, stabbing his rapier in the ground and using it as support.

"Rowen! Please, rest! We'll take care of this!" ordered Phi before she and Jude took off. Phi leaped over Jude's head and brought her foot down before it was blocked by Celsius's arms. Jude then tried to punch Celsius's wide opening at her stomach, but Celsius exhaled some cold breath, which caused Jude's fist to be frozen. Phi then proceeded to break Celsius's defensive arms by repeatedly stomping onto them, only to find no effect. She jumped off of Celsius and together with her and Jude, the two martial artists exchanged blows with the ice spirit.

Meanwhile and surprisingly, Milla and Alvin was having difficulty killing the head of the Exodus group. Milla couldn't find enough time to try to cast artes, even a weak one, due to the fact that Gilland was super quick and had perfect accuracy on his targets with his gun. Gilland and Alvin were having a heating battle with each other due to the fact that they are gun wielders. Whenever they fired at each other, nobody would win because the bullets would block each other out or they missed their targets.

"You can't win, Alfred! I taught you all those techniques, therefore, I know your every move!" taunted Gilland as he and Alvin were once again firing at each other.

"Don't call me by that name! My name is Alvin!" yelled Alvin angrily. Both opponents were out of bullets for the moment, but as they were loading their cartridges, Milla leaped into the air with her sword above her head, and brought it down. Unfortunely, Gilland rolled to the side and shot twice, one at Milla, the other at Alvin. Both blocked with their swords, and since Alvin can only use his sword for close combat, he can only use it for defense in this battle. Both Milla and Alvin had no choice but to hide behind some strong walls for protection, causing Gilland to stop his firing so he doesn't waste any more bullets.

"Running away? No matter. The second I see any one of your pretty heads, I'm firing!" warned Gilland, preparing his gun.

"We have to get close to him somehow. If I could, I would have finished him off quickly," muttered Milla, frustarated.

"Don't worry, I've got an idea," whispered Alvin, loading up his gun. Unbelievably, he _threw _his broadsword, the only weapon he had in close combat, at Gilland, instead of just shooting at him. Normally, a sword that heavy would fall to the ground in no time, but since Milla increased its speed to the maximum, and speed is weightless, it was almost as light as an arrow. Shocked, Gilland dodged to the right, earning a cut on his arm. The sword, however, lost its weightless effect rather quickly, causing it to drop to the ground and cracked the glass floor.

While Gilland was distracted, Milla recklessly charged from her hiding spot and towards Gilland with absolutely no defense at all. Thinking that the Lord of Spirit was perhaps crazy, Gilland shot at Milla, but she slid out of the way and allow Alvin to block all those bullets with his own bullets. Milla leaped into the air over Gilland's head, and was far away from him before running towards him again. Gilland shot at Milla, and despite Milla having no equipment to defend, she had to literally use her arms and legs, save for her sword arm, to block the bullets, though she was going to have those bullets removed from her body later, and her speed was decreasing.

**BANG! **Before Gilland could deliver a bullet to Milla's head, Alvin shot him in the heart directly from behind, and when Milla got close, with most of her remaining strength, she stabbed Gilland in the side as deep as she could.

During all of that, the other team were busy dealing with Celsius. All five of them were getting exhausted and Celsius was getting fatigued as well. "Stalagmite!" cried out Phi, pushing her palms forward to cast her arte. A large pillar of earth headed towards Celsius, but she crushed it with a large block of ice and even made some parts of the floor become slippery due to her ice powers.

As Phi and Leia were running, they suddenly slipped on the ice floor that was just created and fell, allowing Jude and Rowen to take their places. Both men used the ice to slid across and speed up towards Celsius. When Rowen got close, he stabbed his rapier as hard as he could, but Celsius tilted her head back and barely got a scratch. However, Jude's turn was next, and Celsius was well distracted.

"Strike!" hollered Jude, kicking Celsius across the face, pushing her across the room. Within a single second, he reappeared in front of her and delivered multiple blows to her body, before zooming behind her and delivering multiple punches to her back. Back away as quick as he could, Jude let out a cry, and charged up his fist before leaping forward. "Final Fury!" With one final, mighty punch, he punched her right in the stomach and forced her far across the room, where the near-death Gilland was.

Both grunted in pain and fell to their knees, both producing a small pool of blood from their injuries. "No, not now...Not when we finally created a spyrite. Damn it," mumbled Gilland.

"The only thing you really want to do is gain favor with the outside to boost your influence," replied Alvin without remorse. "What's the point in making these spyrites, or whatever you call them?"

"...Spyrites are different from spyrix devices," gasped Gilland, clutching his heavy wounds to try to cease the bleeding at least a little. "They allow us to wield incredible power without consuming spirits. Elympios is overflowing with people and technology. We need spyrites to sustain ourselves." To prove his point, Gilland held out a small mechanism, which started glowing with white and fading away, crackling black electricity. "As spirits have become scarce, so have the mana in Elympios. Our world is now doomed to fade away."

"So that is why you implemented the Otherworld Reactor Plan," murmured Rowen.

"But it's your fault for getting hooked on spyrix to begin with," told Leia. "Now you have to live with the consequences."

"But if spyrites become commonplace, the people of Elympios will have all the mana they need," grunted Gilland.

"Isn't it a bit late for that?" questioned Milla. "You were the ones who chose to rely on spyrix 2,000 years ago."

"That wasn't me!" roared Gilland, his voice echoing throughout the room. He started groaning and yelling out in pain all of a sudden, making Alvin worried and rushing to his side. "My...my death is not going to change the fate of Rieze Maxia! O-our plan can proceed so long as the schism exists! Everything you've done is for nothing!" With a sudden, last cry, Gilland fell to the ground, dead, and as Celsius faded away into nothingness.

"I-is he dead now?" asked Leia quietly. Phi walked over, bent down near Gilland's dead body, and touched his neck even though it was pointless. No pulse. Phi shook her head, noting everyone that Gilland was dead.

"Perhaps that was the price he had to pay for using Celsius," replied Rowen.

"It was a high price to pay, even for that much power," said Milla.

Alvin gently took the golden gun Gilland had formely wielded before putting it in his pocket. "Well, I'll be taking this back. Gillandor Yul Svent. Goodbye...uncle."

"...What. What? WHAT?!" yelled Phi, shocked.

* * *

_Flashback... _

_"Hey there, Sophia!" welcomed Recon cheerfully. "So, mind-"_

_"I swear, if you ask me to go on a date with you again, I will break your arm," warned Sophia._

_"Jeez, no need to get so uptight all of a sudden! Besides, I wasn't going to ask that!"_

_"Oh? Then what were you going to ask?"_

_"Er...want to eat lunch together?"_

_"First, that's the same as a date, and second, nice try."_

_Recon sighed. "Man...aunt is so much like you. I feel bad for Uncle, having to deal with her. Heck, he's even scared of her temper."_

_"You never told me of your uncle and aunt."_

_"Because you never asked! Anyways, Aunt is really strict, but still nice, and Uncle is really funny! I love those two like they're my two parents! Though, Mom wasn't really as scary as Aunt." _

* * *

_'Shit...If Gilland's Alvin's uncle, then...then that means that he wasn't supposed to die! And that means that...that we killed Recon's uncle! Or rather, I allowed him to die! Oh no!' _thought Phi, her face completely white and pale.

"Phi? Are you okay...?" asked Elize, worried.

"...Yeah. I'm fine," assured Phi, though secretly, she was concerned and guilty for Recon. Before anyone could question further, the front doors opened, and there appeared Gaius, Wingul, and Agria.

"Has everything been settled now?" asked Gaius.

"You just missed it," answered Milla softly.

"It doesn't feel right. Not at all," said Jude.

"Exodus must abandon their plans," spoke Milla, walking towards a special mechanism on the glass floor. "They must be forced to for the sake of Rieze Maxia." She bent down, and touched the mechanism with her mana. As soon as she did, the mechanism lit up a pillar of light, but not an offensive one. Rieze formed her hands into a circular motion, creating the elemental symbol that was used to summon the Four Great Spirits. "Good to see you all again," welcomed Milla, glancing at each othe Four elemental spirits.

"Maxwell," called Gaius, causing Milla to stop temporarily.

"Even you won't interfere here," she replied. "I'll destroy it here." As she began the process of gathering enough mana to destroy the Lance of Kresnik, the whole ship started to rumble, and under a dark energy force, everyone fell facedown due to the heavy gravity.

"What the hell is this arte?!" cursed Wingul.

"It hurts! Make it stop!" cried Elize. Phi grunted in pain as she tried to stand up. She was using the rest of her remaining, overwelming magic power to stand up, but eventually, she would run out pretty soon. Just what could she do in a situation like this?

"Did Gilland set a trap for us?!" wondered Jude.

"Come on! Use your artes for crying out loud!" shouted Agria.

With a grunt, Gaius tried to stand up on his own, and just when he was halfway through, the ship rumbled again, forcing him down on his knees. "This is nothing I can't handle. I'll break through this arte!"

"Break through?" muttered Jude to himself. "That's it! Use the Lance of Kresnik1 It has the power to dispel artes!"

"Can we even do that?" gasped Leia. "Isn't it out of mana?"

"If everybody here can focus their mana into the Lance, then maybe..." suggested Rowen, enduring the pain.

"So you're saying we should willingly give that thing power?" crackled Agria even though she was in pain.

"It could mean the death of us," reminded Wingul.

"We're dead either way. We have no choice," submitted Gaius. With a loud cry, Milla forced herself to stand despite the pain, and with each painful step, she climbed up towards the Lance of Kresnik.

Milla placed her hand onto the Lance, and shouted, "There is no need for everyone to risk their lives!"

'Wait, what?!" cried out Jude, confused. Suddenly, he, as well as the others, realized what Milla intended to do. "No! Don't do it! You can't do this!" The glass floor slowly started to crack due to the heavy pressure from the mysterious gravity arte.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Alvin. "Aren't you supposed to stick around to help protect the world?! There are still so many things left you need to do!"

"With the schism gone, Exodus's plan will come to an end," said Milla. "Isn't that right?"

"No!" shouted Jude, trying to get up to stop her. "I want you to win, but not if it means losing you!"

Alvin grabbed his sleeve, forcing him back down. 'Let it go."

"What are you doing?! I have to save her! Can't you see?! Milla's going to kill herself! Don't do this! Please! If you leave us, then what? You can't!"

Milla leaned against the Lance, then smiled at Jude. "You'll be fine without me."

"I didn't join with you to hear you say this kind of crap!" yelled a familiar voice. Milla slowly turned her head and saw Phi, perfectly still, while still standing up despite the pain. Phi didn't know what was going on either. Unwillingly, her body disobeyed her mind, and it was still doing so by walking towards Milla. Every step felt like a part of her brain and body shattered, but she still kept going, as if she had no control over her body. Phi knew that Milla had to use the Lance of Kresnik, then 'die' temporarily, but even so, her body was taking control.

"Phi, it's alright. I own you an...an apology," said Milla as Phi was trying to climb up the stairs very slowly. "I'm sorry. I...I thought you were part of Exodus, but it doesn't seem that way."

"Of course she isn't!" called Leia. "She was never-"

"I don't give a damn about that!" shouted Phi, still agonizing in pain. "You'll die once you activate the Lance of Kresnik!"

"Milla! She's right! Please, reconsider!" agreed Rowen.

"Well, you never know," sighed Milla. "Just because the Lance is dangerous might not mean it'll cost me my life. Perhaps I will get lucky and survive."

"Do you really think that?" questioned Phi, taking three more steps up. "I'm trying to tell you that...that...ugh!" Phi fell on one knee, then struggled to stand up once more.

"And I'm...I'm trying to tell you that I've made up my mind," replied Milla kindly. "That's who I am."

"B-but I...I...! YOU'RE GONNA DIE!" blurted out Phi suddenly, her mouth moving on its own, though her mind wasn't cooperative. "That machine's going to kill you! You're...you're the not the real-!" _'You're not the real Maxwell!' _Phi stopped herself in time before she could spoil more. She was now in front of Milla, and she was sweating hard, and her nose and mouth were bleeding due to the high blood pressure created from the pain from enduring the gravity. Anymore, and she could die from blood loss. "I..." Phi clutched her head, which had an headache. "What am I saying...? I...I just don't want...I..."

Milla placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently. "Thanks. It means a lot to see you concerned, Phi. And, I'm sorry. Sylph!" The Great Spirit of Wind appeared, and blew Phi away with his breath, making Phi crash at the ground near her friends. In fact, the impact of the fall was so great, Phi immediantly fell unconscious.

* * *

_A few days later... _

Call it cruel, but Phi didn't really feel much from Milla's 'death.' One because she wasn't her mother, and two, because Phi knew she survived somehow thanks to the history books she read in her time. Everyone else, however, felt remorse for her death and was depressed. The schism was still there, Alvin was obviously gone from the group day after Milla's death, and Elize and Rowen left for Sharilton, leaving only Leia, Phi, and Jude to travel back to Nia Khera to tell Milla's worshippers what happened.

But, something went terribly wrong on the way.

Jude refused to speak to Phi and pushed her away, and Phi knew it was because even though he wouldn't admit it, he kinda blamed her for not stopping Milla when she had the chance. However, at least he spoke with Leia, though it was only a few words, and Leia would still speak to Phi. But, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was, someone died on the way to Nia Khera, and it was pretty obvious who it was, but it was an accident.

Phi, Jude, and Leia was halfway to Nia Khera. All they had to do was go through the Kijara Seafalls, and they would be in Nia Khera. But, like every time, they encountered some monsters on the way, but these monsters were pretty tough and well-armed. They were a few water lizards who had light armor, and sharp weapons, but the most annoying part, was that Jude wasn't helping at all! While Phi and Leia were fighting them, Jude just stood back, still in a daze over what happened.

Phi was getting irritated because she had to fight these monsters while protecting Jude at the same time. According to the books in her time, Jude was not supposed to get killed, or Leia in that matter. While Leia was fighting two water lizards in a different area, Phi was also fighting the last remaining two lizards on her own, when one of the water lizards knocked her katana out of her hands, which stabbed the ground near the dazed Jude.

"Jude! If you don't help, me, Leia, and even you are going to die! Just snap out of it and help or we're all going to die!" yelled Phi, dodging some sword attacks. "Grab my weapon, and stab one of the lizards! Come on, Jude!"

"Huh? Jude glanced up and see Phi definitely in trouble. He remembered what he said, then looked at the hilt of her katana before pulling it out. He was out of the daze state temporarily, but that should be enough time to finish off the lizards. "Haaaaaah!" With a loud cry, filled with determination, he charged towards one of the lizard's back, who was about to attack Phi from behind.

**SPLAT! **Something unexpected and unbelievable happened as the sound of blood spurting forth. Jude's and Leia's eyes went wide and horrified when they saw what happened. The lizard had moved out of the way in time, and fell off a cliff, and as a result, Jude...Jude had _stabbed _Phi with her own katana until the hilt, piercing through her back through the stomach. Jude's clothes and hands were splattered with the redness of Phi's blood as he released his grip on her katana's hilt.

Phi let out a loud gasp due to the sudden pain, and coughed out blood. She was looking down at her bleeding stomach in blank amazement. She slowly twisted her neck to see who had done it, and was beyond shocked to learn it was Jude who had done it. Did he...did he hate her so bad that he took this opportunity to kill her? No, she knew deep down it was an accident, but she couldn't stop the anger filling her veins and the blood coming from her wounds.

"NO! PHI!" screamed Leia, rushing towards her. However, she didn't get far, because she was distracted by the two monsters she was currently fighting, so she couldn't get there. Jude tried to help Phi, but a water lizard stood in his way, so he was distracted as well. Phi stumbled forward, and slipped, causing her to fall over the edge of the cliff. Luckily, she managed to grab hold of the edge of the cliff, but her grip on it was loosening.

Jude defeated the lizard and rushed to Phi whose grip finally fell apart. Just as she was falling, Jude grabbed her hand on time, but it was slippery. "Gh! D-don't let go, Phi!" cried Jude. Phi only glanced down and was still shell-shocked over what had happened. "Phi! Are you okay?! Please, talk to me!"

Jude could feel her shaking because she was shaking, a good sign since it proved she was alive. But, in reality, Phi was shaking because she had too much stress in her mind. How long was she going to contain all these negative emotions? Sooner or later, she'll break down, but she can't ever do that. She wants to release it, but she can't. That's why she can only release it if she only started shaking, even if it released a little bit of those negative emotions.

"...Jude. Let go," said Phi, too angry and horrified to look up. Phi was pleading with so much effort that it might sound like she was crying. Their hands were already slipping, and before they knew it, Phi was falling towards the endless crevasse, screaming as she was falling.

"PHI! NOOOOOOOO!" screamed Jude, reaching out his hand to her. But it was too late. She...was already gone. Dead.

* * *

**...Please read and review.**


	19. Ancient

**Hey guys! Guess you didn't expect that, huh? Well, I did say I was going to change the timeline a little, so here it is. Now, both Alvin and Jude have some similarity. They both 'killed' someone they care about really badly. Well, more explanations about future technology will be revealed here.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

_A month later... _

Jude and Leia were staring down at Phi's gravestone near the Kijara Seafalls. After he and Leia recovered from Alvin's ambush yesterday, they searched for Phi's dead body, but couldn't find it anywhere, so they built a grave for her instead and are now praying for her safety.

Jude and Leia knew how Phi was killed. Though it was an accident, Jude ended Phi's life in one blow. He remembered all the fun times they had together, the warm memories, all those times she's protected not only him, but the others as well. Even when she knew she wasn't being trusted and was betrayed, she didn't even show an ounce of anger towards them and kept trusting them. Maybe that was one of the reasons Jude liked her.

But, she only cared about the others, not herself. Jude scratched at the ground. Phi fought here and died here. That's what happened. Jude, he blamed himself for killing her because he did, but he didn't blame himself in a worse way. He killed her along with those warm memories, and now, they'll never return.

Such a thing can never be forgiven.

Jude chose this path. He knew that he could be killing people when he started helping Milla and met many other people, but, this was different. Using his own hands, he killed someone who protected him and his friends even through the end. Even if he met with Phi's ghost and go to the afterlife, neither regret or an apology will bring forgiveness. But even so, he'll search for happiness for not only himself, but for others as well, as atonement for killing someone he truly cared about, like a sister or a daughter.

Leia knew that Jude had grown, and he had gotten more depressed ever since he killed Phi. But she still supported him, and he was eternally grateful for that. She knows that finding answers to the schism is more important, and that Jude will find someone else in his life, even if that someone isn't her. She was sad, but accepted that reality and the fact that Phi died. Even though Alvin did kinda betrayed them, he didn't kill them because he couldn't find the will to do so, and because he was shocked to hear Jude reveal he killed Phi by accident.

"Jude, let's go," spoke Leia softly, tugging his sleeve. Jude glanced at the gravestone for the last time and spoke his final words to Phi.

"Thank you. You...you really helped us out many times." With that said, Jude and Leia left the grave, never returning to it ever again.

**Phi Matthews**

**Age: 12**

**Accidental death at the hands of a friend who considered her as a sister or daughter.**

* * *

_A month ago..._

"-And here! T-there's so much blood! I-I managed to stop the-!" cried out a familiar, frantic voice. Phi's heavy eyes fluttered as she struggled to keep them open. When she did, the first thing she saw was her younger cousin, Alicia, who had a stricken look of fear on her face. When Alicia saw that Phi was awake and okay, she let out a sigh of relief. "Sophia! You're awake! Oh, thank Maxwell!"

"What happened?" moaned Phi, trying to sit up. When she did, her chest felt pain, and she glanced down to see several bandages with dried blood wrapped around her chest and stomach. She couldn't remembered what had caused this or what happened, though she was trying to think. She looked at Alicia, and the last time she had seen her, it was in the future, but now, she was here with her.

"H-hey! Don't push yourself!" warned Alicia, gently pushing her back to the ground. "You're in a hut I personally made in the middle of a forest. Don't worry, we're still in the past, but I arrived about two months ago. The others...yeah, I couldn't find them."

"Ugh...I...I arrived about five months ago," replied Phi, still wincing in pain. "Wait, where is here? What forest?"

"Well, above the forest is the Kijara Seafalls, and it's a long hike up there. I found you near the rivers, with lots of blood pouring out from your body, and your katana sticking out from your stomach. Immediantly, I carried you back to my hut and began medical aid as fast as I could. You've been asleep for two weeks now. I had to treat your wounds every few hours, and you had no idea how much mana I spent to heal you, and we all know I'm bad at healing. Also, we're lucky we have the same blood type, because I transfeered enough blood to keep you alive. But unfortunely, you're going to have that scar on your chest."

"A katana...? Blood?"

"Oh, and here...your katana...uh...I'm sorry." Alicia pulled out Phi's katana from behind her, and Phi saw that the katana was split in half, utterly broken. "Believe me, I tried to fix it when I broke it while fighting with it for hunting, but...I'm not exactly a blacksmith yet. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," wheezed Phi. "Oh, and I couldn't locate the others as well. Gah!" Phi clutched her bandages, obviously still in pain.

"Hey, get some rest! I'll cook up something later, and then we can talk, alright?" Phi nodded before quickly falling asleep, fatigue taking over her mind. The next time she awoke, it was sunset, and Alicia was sitting next to her with a wooden bowl in her hands. "Hey, you're awake again! You must be hungry. Here, let me help you up, and we can eat dinner together."

As Phi and Alicia ate dinner, both discussed the events which were going on. After Alicia arrived, she was found in the forest near Kijara Seafalls, so she searched for weeks in case any of their friends have shown up, but to no avail. Then, she decided to search for a few months and spend that time in the forest, making her own hut, camping, hunting, and so forth. Not many people came down the forest at the bottom of Kijara Seafalls since Kijara Seafalls were the most dangerous waterfalls in the world, but Alicia managed. Alicia revealed she had something amazing to show to Phi, but later when she recovered. Phi shared her events on what was going on, and Alicia was shocked to hear some things, especially from Phi's view of point. Sure Alicia read the history books about Jude's adventures, but there were some unexpected things in this timeline.

"Is there anything else?" asked Alicia, worried about Phi's concern.

"Yeah. You want to know how I got this injury, right?" asked Phi, pointing to her new, white bandages. "Well, after Milla died, we all went our separate ways, except for me, Jude, and Leia. When we arrived at the Kijara Seafalls, there was a battle with some monsters, and while me and Leia fended them off, my katana got knocked out of my hand and landed next to Jude. Jude wanted to help me, but he stabbed me in the back, literally. I know it was an accident, but it still hurted, mentally and physically."

"Oh man...I can't believe uncle Jude would do that, even if it was an accident," murmured Alicia.

"You shouldn't call him 'uncle' in this time. It would be bad."

"I know. So...what do you think of your friends?"

Phi was silent for a moment. "Okay. Well, Milla never trusted me from the beginning, because she sensed I was a spirit. Well, she was kinda right, but I kept telling her I was human. Alvin...*sigh* I never wanted to trust him, but I had no choice. If I didn't, he would have died, and Recon would have never been born. Same thing goes with the others. I mean, the only people I could trust was Elize and Rowen. Elize's nice, and Rowen's no problem, but I had to keep them all alive for the sake of everyone we know and love."

"So basically, you just kept Elize, Rowen, Leia, Alvin, Jude, and Milla alive for all of our other friends? But, what about Leia? You told me she was nice."

"Yeah, but she broke that promise I told you, remember? You do know I don't like people who breaks promises. Yeah, I didn't want to trust her after she broke our promise, but I had to. And after that, everyone began to doubt me. That's fine. I guess I deserved that."

"No! No you don't deserve that!" cried Alicia, slamming her bowl to the ground in frustration. "You felt a lot of pain and hurt during those five months, and yet you endured them all on your own and you didn't even crack once! If that was me, I would have broken up and confessed to everything long ago! You didn't do anything bad, so don't blame yourself, Sophia! If anyone's to blame, it should be Jude and Milla and Leia! Jude, because he literally stabbed you in the back, Milla, because she kept distrusting you, and Leia, because she betrayed your trust, but you had to forgive her because you had no choice! Don't blame-"

"Alicia, you're misunderstanding," said Phi calmly. "I'm not going to blame myself or anything in this kind of situation. Also, please don't call me 'Sophia.' As I recalled, before we left for the past, I told you and everyone else to just call me 'Phi.' The Sophia Mathis you know is dead. She saved me, Phi Matthews, but I still refer to you as my cousin."

"But..." Alicia stayed silent. So, this was the path her older cousin took, huh? She's never really changed. She always was like this, even in the future. Possibly, that's due to Gaius, but mainly because of her past experiences. Alicia felt sorry for Sophia-no, Phi, and wished she could ease her pain at least a little.

* * *

_The next morning... _

"So, where are we heading?" asked Phi, following Alicia. Both girls were walking down a forest trail, surrounded by lushes of green and overgrown trees everywhere.

"Well, I wanted to explore some cave there. I couldn't fully explore there because there were too many monsters. Besides, I wanted to show you my abilities and my new secret weapon," bragged Alicia, taking the lead.

"Secret weapon? What are you talkig about?"

"Nah uh! If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" teased Alicia, turning to face her with a cheeky look on her face. "So, come on! Let's go!" Wondering why Alicia was all happy all of a sudden, Phi nodded and followed her inside a dark, deep cave. Phi made a torche using a stick and some fire magic to lit their way and proceeded cautiously. As they got further and further, the area started showing a bit of light because of the small cracks that showed sunlight.

Soon, they approached some frog monsters, who made the first move and started to pounce on them. Phi and Alicia rolled out of the way and dodged any tongue whips coming from the frog monsters. Seeing how she doesn't have a weapon, Phi kicked the frog monsters with her martial arts skills, while Alicia pulled out her fauchard, her close combat weapon, but something was different.

Alicia's halberd had a long turquiose-colored staff, with the axe blade and spike being covered in tough, light blue crystal and the spike having a small symbol that looked like a snowflake. Phi have never seen Alicia wield this fauchard before, because she normally wielded a regular fauchard. This one was different, since it had a weird sort of cold power. As Phi was fighting the frog monsters with her bare fists, she watched Alicia fight off her own while she swung that fauchard of hers. When the fauchard strucked the ground, it suddenly created pillars of ice and stabbed the remaining frog monsters, killing and freezing them in ice.

"W-what?!" cried out Phi as Alicia placed her fauchard back to its long leather scabbard. "Alicia, what sort of weapon was that?"

"See? This was the secret weapon I was talking about!" said Alicia, grinning. "This is Fimbulvetr, the 'Fauchard of Great Winter.' You know, one of the Ten Elemental Weapons in the world? Yeah, this is one of them!"

* * *

_Explanation: Ten Elemental Weapons_

_Long ago, a threat was issued to destroy the world, but ten heroes (who shall forever be unnamed) forged ten weapons of one elements to destroy that threat once and for all before sealing the weapons and locking them away somewhere. There were many rumors, like the elemental wepaons were lost forever or destroyed, but that wasn't true. Of course, people made replicas of them, but they weren't the real thing, and they couldn't copy the true power, only a small part of it._

_Not just anyone can use it. Only those worthy of the elemental weapons or those with the bloodline of the ten heroes can use them, but very rarely. Using the weapons will also cost mana or physical strength, or part of your own life force. Either way, whoever wields the power must give something in exchange._

_There is a total of ten elements, fire, water, earth, wind, thunder, ice, plant, darkness, light, and the final, most difficult element, spirit, or rather, quintessence. These weapons can absorb anything that's in their element such as a fire weapon absorbing fire. _

* * *

"How did you get one of these?" asked Phi, astonished to see one of the Ten Elemental Weapons.

"Oh, I discovered an cave inside a waterfall, so I went in. Luckily, there weren't any monsters inside, but it took me a long time to get the depths and find the weapon. Huh, it was like the weapon was calling out to me! Besides, my original fauchard broke in a fight, so I had to use this. I couldn't use my guns all the time because the bullets are limited, you know! Anyways, I'm still getting used to my new weapon, trying to learn new techniques with it."

"I see. But don't use it too much."

"I know, I know. I know the means and payment to use these things. I've read the books. So, let's go!" Several hours later, around 6:00, after lots of ficious fights and breaks, the two girls finally made it to the summit of the cave, where there were some rocky stairs leading somewhere. Outside, it was dark and cloudy, and it almost seemed like a thunderstorm was coming up.

"Hold it," interrupted Phi, making Alicia stop.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, where do we go from here? I mean, after we go back to the hut and all. We still have to catch up to Jude and the others. Who knows what kind of trouble they're in."

"I thought you didn't want to see uncle-I mean, Jude. I mean, he was the one who stabbed you in the back," reminded Alicia, turning to face her.

"Yeah, but I can't just leave him alone. Same thing goes with everyone else. I can't trust that they won't do anything crazy that might cost them their lives. I did remember that Alvin attacked Jude and Leia, then left because he was unwilling to kill them. Then, Jude and Leia met up with Elize and Rowen, boarded the same ship as Gaius in order to retrieve the Lance of Kresnik, but they failed thanks to...Muzet."

"Uh...what happened to aunt Muzet? I mean, Muzet," asked Alicia.

"You still don't remember? Fine. She went crazy because her lord, Maxwell, stopped giving her orders. She wanted orders, and as a result, her 'mission' was to destroy anyone who knew the schism. And that included the Lance of Kresnik."

"Hmm...a crazy Muzet..." Alicia took a moment to think about that, but shivered as a result. "Yeah...I wouldn't want that either. That'd be scary."

"Anyways, Jude and the others were trying to find the real Maxwell, so they went back to Nia Khera. There, they met...Ivar. Surprisingly, for some reason, he told them that the location to Maxwell's domain was in the Hollowmont, a huge sacred mountain. When they got to the summit, Alvin will be waiting for them along with Agria, and Presa was supposed to be there."

"But Presa was killed by Alvin, remember?" reminded Alicia. "That wasn't supposed to happen in the past. She was supposed to fall to her doom along with Agria."

"Yeah. Though now, I guess Agria's the only one falling to her doom. After that, Alvin was granted a chance to-Oh! I seriously forgot! I made a promise-no, a swear, that I wouldn't let Alvin betray Jude and the others as long as I was there! Damn, I broke a swear for the first time."

"I highly doubt that matters now, Phi. I remembered that the others entered Maxwell's domain and after a while, they found Maxwell. So, where do you think we should go? Maxwell's domain?"

"...Yeah. We need to go to Olympios. The others might be there and trapped. But for now, let's see what's up there," suggested Phi. Just before they could turn and take another step up the stairs, something heavy fell down from the skies, and a large shadow enveloped over them. The two girls turned, and saw a massive, demonic-looking monster with dark skin, sharp claws, and a long dark tail.

Alicia's eyes went wide with fear, and Phi was only shocked. They knew instantly what this...this _beast _was. They have seen him several times. It couldn't be...it was impossible. How could he have...? No...it really couldn't be possible...But here he was, standing right there in front of them.

It was a Dark Spirit. More accurately, one of the most dangerous Dark Spirits never to be defeated.

"W-what?! No...that's not possible! It can't be!" cried out Alicia, her body trembling with fear. "How can a Dark Spirit enter the time portal?"

**"Oh, so that was what that was? It seems alright for my brothers and sisters to come through there as well," **replied the Dark Spirit in a shallow voice.

"He can talk?!" exclaimed Phi, readying herself.

**"Yes. I will dine on your blood that wishes to mingle with me, Minotaur, the Dark Spirit of Ice! Prepare to die!" **With that said, Alicia quickly unsheathed her ice fauchard out of fear and implanted it at the ground, using her own mana to summon large ice pikes to trap Minotaur. Unexpectedly, the Dark Spirit started chomping, then swallowing the contents of the ice, shocking the two girls.

"No...Fimbulvetr's eternal ice isn't supposed to eaten, let alone destroyed!" shouted Alicia, frantically trying to pull her fauchard out of the ground.

**"No...I am the Dark Spirit of Ice. I can eat any ice, even if it is unbreakable." **The Dark Spirit of Ice took a deep breath, before letting it all out, releasing a breath of ice wind that froze everything, turning the whole area into a winterland. Luckily, Phi used her mana to create a fire shield strong enough to defend against the icy wind, saving both her and Alicia.

"Looks like we'll need a third ally right now," said Alicia, thrusting her palm forward before closing it into a fist, revealing a ring with a glinting, small blue topaz on her finger.

"Wait! Alicia! Is that...Is that a Grimoire Fossil?"

"Yeah! I'm calling forth...Lily!" As soon as she spoke her spyrite's name, Alicia's Grimoire Fossil, her ring, glowed, and in front of her formed a large light blue, beautiful swan. "Alright, Lily! Let's do this! Water Breath attack!"

Obeying her master's command, the swan spyrite Lily spreaded her wings and flew upwards before spraying a pillar of water towards Minotaur, making him block with his own arms. **"Fool...attacking me with water, huh? I may not be able to absorb water, but this is nothing! I can easily turn this into ice!" **Once he mentioned that, he loosen his fists, releasing a bit of his ice powers and making the water pillar frozen stiff before it shattered to pieces.. During that moment, Alicia had launched herself into the air while holding her ice halberd above her head before bringing it down, giving an earned cut to the Dark Spirit's arm.

"Yes!" cheered Alicia, jumping off the Dark Spirit. Lily came to her rescue, and Alicia grabbed hold of her leg, allowing Lily to fly higher for safe distance. Since Alicia wasn't that heavy, Lily easily carried her around. Before Minotaur could leaped from the ground and retaliate, Phi gathered mana into her fingertips and slashed vertically, creating a wind-like slash that made a small cut on the Dark Spirit's back.

"Damn! He's really tough!" shouted Phi before rolling over to dodge a block of ice heading towards her way. She didn't have the time to counterattack, for she had to dodge a lot of ice attacks in her way coming from Minotaur, along with punches.

"Not much of a choice," murmured Phi, piercing her ear using the earring. Once she got her earring on, however, Minotaur turned his attention on Phi since he lost interest in Alicia, and started shooting ice spikes at her. Phi backflipped a few times to dodge them all, and nearly stumbled when her feet touched the stairs leading to whatever. Very quickly, Phi concentrated her mana into her Grimoire Fossil, and in a second, it glowed, and formed a yellow wolf that was filled with static electricity.

"Bolverk, I order you to attack that Dark Spirit right now!" ordered Ph, pointing to Minotaur who was charging towards Phi. Bolverk, Phi's spyrite, barked in response while Phi added some additional mana to boost him up. As a result, he suddenly disappeared in a flash, and reppeared in front of Minotaur. Instantly, he smashed his head towards the Dark Spirit's leg, and with enough strength, he forced the Dark Spirit to fall on his back.

**"Gh...you seem to have some skill...But not enough to defeat me," **spoke Minotaur, starting to stand up. **"Do you really believe this will be enough to defeat me?" **

"Obviously!" answered Alicia. "You're fighting against a human and a half-spirit! And don't you forget it, you big mean old bastard! We humans have potential after all!"

**"Hmph. 'Potential,' eh? Perhaps you may stand a chance. Therefore, I will have to give it my all!" **Minotaur's muscles tensed, then grew bigger along with the rest of his body due to him releasing his full strength at them. In a flash much faster than Bolverk, he punched Phi in the stomach, forcing her to choke up saliva and fly upwards before landing on the surface of the ground above the stairs.

"Phi!" cried Alicia. "Why you-! Whirlwind!" Twisting her palm about and using her mana, Alicia made a green glyph which sent a tornado towards Minotaur, engulfing his body, trapping him there. "Phi! Where are you?! Are you alright?!"

Choking up a little, Phi slowly regained herself and stood up. "Y-yeah! I'm fine! I'll be there now!" Just when she started to get up, something caught her eye, and she turned around to see a two-handed sword stuck in an small altar. The blade was clear gray, and had the symbol of a thunderbolt at the hilt. Not caring what sort of sword it was, Phi crawled towards it, stood up by holding onto the hilt, and pulled it out with ease as the stormy clouds started pouring rain. Clutching her stomach, Phi started to run as fast as she could to the battlefield, but had to drag her sword with both hands due to it being too heavy.

Apparently, Alicia was taking the rain as an advantage for her own, because her spyrite, Lily, was absorbing the rain and adding it to her own power. Alicia was fighting against Minotaur on her own, raising ice defenses to block the giant's attacks while Bolverk was taking the offensive and attacking Minotaur. The Dark Spirit was slightly taking damage, but it still wasn't enough to defeat him. Besides, Alicia was started to get tired, due to her wasting mana on her Fimbulvetr and Grimoire Fossil. At this rate, she might not last long.

Finally, with a glass shattering sound, Minotaur smashed through Alicia's ice defenses and punched her in the gut, sending her straight to a wall. Blood flowed from her forehead and she coughed out blood from the impact. The light from Alicia's Grimoire Fossil faded away, and Lily disappeared into thin air.

"What the hell did you do to my cousin, you monster!" screamed Phi, completely enraged. Her magic power dramatically increased, so she used half of it onto her Grimoire Fossil, boosting up Bolverk's power and making him stronger. Ignoring her injuries, Phi used all her strength to launch herself into the air despite the heavy weight of her new sword and slashed downwards at Minotaur's back, giving a good, deep slash that made him roar in pain. Bolverk growled before leaping off the ground and bitting onto Minotaur's neck, his claws digging deep into his back.

Meanwhile, Alicia was struggling to get up using her ice fauchard, determined to fight again. There's no way she'll back down from a fight like this, especially one that involves a Dark Spirit! Alicia charged forward, and as Minotaur's claws swung down, Alicia countered with a high blow, repelling the sharp blades of the claws with all her strength. Suddenly, the Dark Spirit of Ice's huge body shook the floor as it jumped high. It turned its body in mid-air, while accumulating power into his claws before slashing downwards at the same time. Alicia blocked with her fauchard, but still got a cut on her arm, and Bolverk instantly shielded Phi before crying out in pain and fading away.

Suddenly, Minotaur roared and charged towards Alicia, bringing up his fists to crush her. Phi ran towards her while she brought her ice halberd down to form a wall with the rest of her remaining mana, making Minotaur bang against the ice wall with all his might. Once arriving at the cold, thick ice wall, Phi panted and dropped her new sword on the ground. They weren't going to last long if this kept up! Normally, in their time, they would have defeated a dark spirit already, but this was different! He might as well be the commander of the Dark Spirits!

_'W-what do I do? I should use thunder magic probably,' _thought Phi furiously as she clutched the hilt of her sword, unknowingly sending thunder mana into it. The blade started getting static electricity all of a sudden, surprising Phi as she examined the blade. _'No...Wait, is it possible? Can-' _

**BOOM!** Her thoughts came to a halt when thunder boomed in the stormy clouds. One thunderbolt came crashing down on Minotaur, making him roar in pain due to the sudden surprise. That moment was a perfect opportunity for Phi. With all of her remaining strength and mana, she leaped from the ground and stabbed Minotaur in the chest as deep as she could before letting go of the hilt and landing down. As if on cue, thunder crashed from the clouds and struck the hilt, and as if acting like a lightning rod, the sword responded and shocked the Minotaur, literally, frying the beast.

As Minotaur slowly fell down, his last swords were, **"F-forgive me...Lord...my services end here..." **Once he hit the ground, laying on his back, he slowly started disappearing into thin air, and unlike the spyrites, he was dead, never to come back.

The ice wall surrounded Alicia crumpled, and she fell on the ground, exhausted like Phi. "Whew! We did it! We...we beat that big ol' pansy!"

"But...what the hell was a Dark Spirit doing here?" panted Phi. "Something's not right...The last Dark Spirit we saw was that centipede in the city...So why...?"

"Hold on..." said Alicia before gulping in some air. "Let's go back to the hut. It'll be more dangerous here. We'll rest for a bit, and then I'll produce enough mana for Lily to fly us back. I don't know what's happening either, but we'll rest for now and go back to the hut and sleep."

As soon as Alicia and Phi entered the hut for safety, Alicia examined the sword Phi had took during the battle. "Whoa! This is...this is one of the Ten Elemental Weapons! Sieglinde!"

"Wait, what?" asked Phi, taking back the sword.

"Sieglinde! The 'Sword of Absolute Storms!' It can control lightning and thunder and absorb them! It's a really powerful weapon! So lucky!"

"Hey, you've got a legendary weapon yourself."

"Yeah, but you don't have a weapon that can make you cold all the time when you use it!"

"I thought you were used to the cold?"

"But this is extremely cold when using it! Man, if we had these kinds of weapons, we would have annihilated the Dark Spirits a long time ago!"

At the mention of that, Phi turned her head and started thinking seriously. Yes, Alicia was right. With this much power, the Dark Spirits wouldn't stand a chance, but how did the Dark Spirits come into the world in the first place? Why did they? Who? How? And what happened to the others? How did Minotaur come into this world?

* * *

Skit: Forbidden

"Hey, Alicia? Have your sharpshooting skills decreased?" asked Phi.

"No, why?"

"Because whenever we're fighting, I don't see you use your guns, which you're way better than your halberd. Why's that?"

"Well, I have a limited supply of bullets, so I don't often use them. Besides, I have a policy. 'Save up what you can, and savor for last.'"

"That policy's a bit long, but understandable."

* * *

Skit: No Weapons, no Victory

"Since you don't have a weapon anymore, what are you going to fight against the monsters?" asked Alicia.

"Not true. I still have my fists and feet," said Phi.

"Yeah, until some monster with razor sharp claws cut them off and leave you to bleed to death. We gotta find you a weapon, even if it's a temporary one!"

"Hey, most of the monsters fight using claws or their fangs or their spit. You seriously want me to use the dead monsters' claws and fangs as weapons? Besides, I heard you were training as a blacksmith! Can't you repair my katana?"

"Well, my skills aren't that good! Besides, I uh...kinda threw away the katana."

"You what?!"

"It was useless to begin with! You got any bright ideas on using a broken katana?"

"Yes, Alicia! Yes I do have some ideas! We could have used the katana, get a flint, and smashed them together to create fire in case we run out of mana!"

"Oh...oops."

* * *

Skit: Poor Ivar

"...And yeah. I gave him that and kicked him off the ship," finished Phi.

"Whoa, seriously? Ivar's not going to forgive you anytime soon, you know," giggled Alicia.

"So? You think I care what that senile old fart thinks of me? Not. Though it's a bit irritating. He's really annoying, and as much as I want to kill him, I have to keep him alive for Evan. Evan owns me BIG TIME for saving both his father and him."

"Yeah, I would think the same way if I were you. But what's with the nicknames?"

"Hey, if I want to take my anger out on the senile old fart, I want to at least insult him as long as I can."

"Fair enough."

* * *

Skit: Sympathy

"I can't believe Uncle Jude stabbed you," remorsed Alicia sadly. "I mean, I know it was an accident, but still."

"Yeah, that was pretty bad. But that's all in the past. The more important thing it if Jude got over his depression or not. He promised me he wouldn't let anything bad affect him for the rest of his life, but I wonder if he's keeping that promise."

"Phi...I feel bad for you."

"No worries. Besides, if people gain sympathy, they'll just feel bad even more. Got that?"

"Yeah..."

* * *

Skit: Relief

Phi sighed, looking a little depressed. "What's wrong, Phi?" asked Alicia. "You want to take a break?"

"No, it's just...Recon's dead now. I may be able to save Alvin, but I couldn't save his uncle."

"Wait, isn't his uncle from Olympios?"

"Yeah, but he came to Rieze Maxia for Olympios. Now, Recon in this world will never meet his uncle, Gilland."

"Uh...Phi? His uncle's name is Balan."

"...What?"

"Yeah, Alvin's uncle is Gilland, so that would make Gilland Recon's _great_ uncle. Balan's his actual uncle-whoa!"

Alicia stood back when Phi embraced her, sighing in relief. "Thank you...thank you so much, Alicia..."

Her younger cousin's eyes widen before she gently patted Phi in the back. "Yeah...okay..."

* * *

**I'm finished! Bye guys!**


	20. Return

**Hello everyone! Another new chapter to announce once again and I have nothing else up my sleeve right now, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs. **

* * *

_One month later..._

"Have you gotten used to that new sword yet?" asked Alicia, stretching her arms wide to exhaust all the strength out. It's been about two months since they last seen each other in this forest, and together, they trained with their legendary weapons in order to get used to them and fully master them. However, they only managed to get used to the weight and learn several techniques that they taught themselves, so their training was going slowly. They're were also training their spyrites due to their Grimoire Fossils, and their spyrites recognized them as their masters.

"It's not 'new.' I got this a month ago, remember?" reminded Phi, sheathing her thunder sword in its sheath. During their two months, Alicia had sewed together some clothes for Phi to wear since her old ones were getting dirty and torn up. Phi wore a suitable combat red dress vest with a white collar, short red pants, a belt tied around her waist to hold her scabbard in, and combat boots. Alicia had forged a scabbard for her new sword thanks to some materials she got from some monsters.

"You said that two months after aunt Milla died, Jude and his company found the way to Maxwell's domain, right?" questioned Alicia. "So, it's been two months now. You think they're still there?"

"Probably. We should head there right now," suggested Phi. "If they aren't there, they're probably in Olympios, or somewhere. If that's the case, we'll need to search for the others on our own. Who knows, maybe we'll encounter Jude and the others later. Say, can we take Lily? My spyrite isn't exactly the flying type, so yours will do."

"Sure. It won't be long until we reach the top of the waterfall. So, where exactly is Maxwell's domain?"

"First, we have to make sure we're not caught by the people in Nia Khera, or they'll start asking questions. After we arrive at the Kijara Seafalls, we stopped riding and start running as fast as we can until we're at Milla's home, which is kinda of a shrine. Then, we go inside, and find the door leading to the Hallowmont, which is a spiritway entrance, use Lily again, and go to the summit where the portal is. No rests or breaks, because we can do all that later, got that?"

"Yeah, but one question. Do we even know where Milla's shrine is?"

"Somewhere in Nia Khera, and probably in the middle of a forest. I've never been there, but the books did say it was in the middle of a forest. Anyways, there's one more thing I have to tell you. You have to change your name, Alicia."

"Uh...why would I do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Look, if you met with Karla and you revealed your name, that would be bad. She might not know you or even recognize you, but she's not dumb. When she has her baby, she'll name it 'Alicia.' You. Karla can easily remember things, and wonder, 'Huh, my baby looks like that girl named Alicia!' And we both know that Karla will stop at nothing to get the answer she wants. So just change your name."

"Oh yeah, good point," agreed Alicia. "Hmm...I got it! Sakuya Matthews! Nice, huh? From now on, refer to me as 'Sakuya!'"

"Why did you choose to change your last name with the same as mine? Remember, my name's Phi Matthews, so why?"

"Obviously, because we're still cousins! No matter what, you're still my older cousin, even if I look older than you! Now, let's go!" Both girls nodded before running up to the nearest waterfall where Sakuya found Phi. Activating her Grimoire Fossil, Lily appeared in no time, and after both girls climbed onto her back, Lily flew upwards towards Kijara Seafalls. Once arriving there, Lily landed on some rocky surfaces before fading away, her task accomplished.

"Alright, we should get going, now!" ordered Phi, ready to run towards Nia Khera.

"Wait! Take a look at this!" Phi turned and saw Alicia standing in front of a gravestone, with her name on it. "Look, Phi! It says your name right here!"

"What?! I don't remember _dying!" _cried Phi, running towards the gravestone. No doubt about it. It even said her age, what year she-or rather the person who made the gravestone thought she was born in, and some parting words. "Oh yeah...Jude and Leia probably made this because they thought I was dead."

"Yeah, but don't you think we should hurry? We're kinda on a schedule here," reminded Alicia. Phi nodded in response, and the two girls ran towards Nia Khera with all their might. Thanks to monsters in their way, and other obstacles, it took about two hours to arrive in Nia Khera. They just burst into the village and started running, ignoring the startled looks of other people's faces.

"Where is it?" panted Phi, still running as they crossed over a small bridge. Just then, the two girls saw a glum-looking Ivar walking down a hill from a tori gate. If Sakuya remembered correctly, Ivar had fought Jude and his friends outside Milla's shrine and lost due to his frustration.

"Past Ivar! Through the gate he just went by!" ordered Sakuya. Immediantly, the two girls raced past Ivar, not even giving him a second glance as they went through the gate and up the roads ahead, soon entering into an autumn-like forest with orange, red, and yellow trees all around. It honestly didn't take them long to find Milla's shrine since the forest wasn't that wide, and the well-crafted stairs gave away the shrine's location.

"*pant* *pant* Is there anyone following us?" questioned Phi, gasping for breath as soon as she and Sakuya reached the stairs and were in front of Milla's huge shrine. Their legs were shaking and they were breathing heavily, so they can't keep this up much longer if they keep running.

"No...nobody followed us. We're safe."

"Good! Let's hurry!" Nodding to each other, Phi and Sakuya ran towards the entrance of the shrine and barged right in. The shrine had only one room, but it was big enough for one person to live in, specifically Milla. There wasn't really much inside, just a bookshelf with very little books, some candlesticks, a small bed, and a small drawer. "Let's search for the entrance to the Nia Khera Hallowmont and-"

"Found it," announced Sakuya, who was behind the only chair in the shrine. Phi ran towards her and saw her lifting up a curtain that revealed a secret passageway. Once they opened the secret passageway, it lead to a different area, where the clouds were dark, and there was a long trail up towards the mountain, which happened to be the Hallowmont.

"Sakuya, summon Lily, and we'll fly up to the summit," ordered Phi. Sakuya nodded in response before concentrating her mana into her Grimoire Fossil, forming her spyrite, Lily. As soon as she was summoned, both Sakuya and Phi climbed unto her back, and Lily took off into the skies, trying to locate the highest peak she could find while Sakuya and Phi were also searching.

Finally, after a long while, Sakuya cried out, "There! That's the highest peak over there! I just know it! And there's something down there as well! Lily, go there!" Lily obeyed and flew down where Sakuya was pointing. After Sakuya and Phi got off Lily's back, Lily disappeared, her duties fufilled. Sakuya and Phi saw a dark portal at the summit, already knowing it was the portal to Maxwell's domain.

"This is it," gasped Phi, relieved. "Are you ready?"

Sakuya nodded at Phi's plan, approving it. "Wait, what if there are obstacles in Maxwell's domain? What if we have to go through some huge dungeon or cave to get to Jude and the others?"

"Oh please, like that'll ever happen. We've got legendary weapons. What does Maxwell have? No weapons but the unlimited mana he has...which is bad. Anyways, we should go in. There shouldn't be much trouble there."

Unfortunely, Phi spoke too soon, because inside the domain was a huge dimensional space with lots of floating, strange cubes acting like floors. There were also some floating cubes in mid air, and many stars in the dimension. Things got a little confusing and sidetracked for a while as the two girls explored the dimension, but after about an hour later, they were at the edge and saw a large, hovering wide circle connecting to someplace else. Somewhere where there might be something big at the bottom f they jumped.

"This is it. Are you ready, Sakuya?" questioned Phi, glancing at the bottom of the dimension, which was strangely light blue unlike the other endless dark pits in the dimension. Sakuya nodded, and together, the two girl jumped off into the bottom, where something big awaited them.

A strange light filled their heads, and when they opened their eyes, they realized that they were in a completely strange place, where the ground was water, but they were still standing on it like it was normal ground, and air was filled with the blue skies and clouds, and there were strange mechanisms here and there. Sakuya whispered to Phi, "Hey, Phi. I think I know where we are. We're probably at the Temporal Crossroads. I heard that they connect both spirit and human worlds. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Never mind that! Look!" Phi pointed to a different direction, and even though they were far away from them, they both saw Jude, Alvin, Elize, Leia, and Rowen on the ground, completely defeated and injured gravely. An old man, who is supposedly Maxwell, in a strange, floating wheelchair was still active, and was about to cast some kind of spirit arte on them. "Shoot! Let's hurry!" Both girls took off in the direction they saw as fast as they could, side by side, and unsheathing their weapons during the process.

"Now...die and return from the dust in which you came from!" cried out the original Maxwell, slashing his arms forward to create a large wind slash that was supposed to slice the damaged people on the ground.

"Haste!" cried out Sakuya, grabbing Phi's hand. She had transported her spirit arte, Haste, and boosted up Phi's speed, making her much faster than before. With a cry, Phi leaped into the air, and slashing downwards, making an electrifying slash in the air that collided with the wind slash and immediantly dispersed, also taking down the wind slash.

"Who are you?!" shouted Maxwell, astonished over what happened. Phi landed on the ground, right next to Jude's body. As Jude and the others slowly got up, they immediantly recognized the person right next to Jude, and were completely stunned and shocked. How? How can that person still be standing here?

"Impossible," breathed Jude. There was no way she could have survived a sword stab AND a fall from a cliff! "P-Phi! How did you-?! You're still-?!"

"What?!" gasped Alvin. "I thought you said you said you killed Phi and watch her fall from a cliff!"

"Phi's alive! Phi's alive!" cried Elize, tears of happiness coming from her eyes.

"It's a miracle," spoke Rowen.

"Oh my...thank you! Thank you so much!" gasped Leia, also crying tears of happiness.

"Enough of this! Begone!" yelled Maxwell. He quickly casted a spirit arte that had no difficulty casting, and fired three huge fireballs at the group. Just then, Sakuya rushed in and formed three small magic glyphs using her finger before unleasing three balls of water to quench out the fireballs.

"Hey, Phi! I'll provide far distance assistance! You close in and get rid of his defences!" shouted Sakuya, dropping her ice fauchard and getting out her guns. Phi nodded before rushing in, lifting up her sword as she did so. Sakuya kept firing from her guns, only to realize that Maxwell had a thick barrier that seemed impenetrable.

"You're finished!" yelled Phi, swinging her sword at the barrier. To everyone's surprise, it caused a bit of a crack, but it was enough for Phi. Placing mana in her thunder sword, Sieglinde, she raised its thunder power and kept swinging at the barrier, cracking it little by little with every swing. Sakuya aimed at the cracks as well, bringing more cracks.

Maxwell wasn't going to allow his barrier to be destroyed, so with his spirit arte, he casted two thunder beasts to attack Phi. With a loud battle cry, Phi jumped from the ground and swung her sword at the two thunder beasts, cleaving them in half and absorbing their power into Sieglinde. Everyone else watched in amazement as Phi revealed her new power to them.

"Hey, who are you?" shouted Leia, addressing Sakuya, who was putting more cartridges into her gun.

"Oh? My name's Sakuya! I'm Phi's little cousin!"

"Wait, her cousin?" asked Elize, surprised.

"Yeah, but we can talk later! It's not easy to explain the situation now! We're kinda in the middle of something! Just rest and let me and Phi handle this for a while! Right now, your fates depend on me and Phi!"

Rising up his arms, Maxwell summoned large shadows from the grounds. Each shadow was a magic of absorption, a bundle of large mana that easily matches great power. Not one, but about five rise up to attack. They are not like Dark Spirits, but rather just dark spirit magic created by Maxwell himself. It made a huge strain on Maxwell, seeing how he was panting heavily and sweat was dripping from his body. This was obviously an arte he usually doesn't use, or something he hasn't used in a very long time. The black wave slowly closes in. Spreading their arms to block their prey's escape, they attack like a tital wave.

"Flashing Penetrator!" Phi stabbed Sieglinde forward, a beam of electricity coming from the tip of the sword and striking one of the shadows with extreme power. The shadow quickly disappeared after being it, returning from whatever it came from. Pressing one palm against the ground, she launched herself off the ground and flew into the air, before mustering up mana for one spirit arte. "Thunder Fall!" Summoning a large glyph, a large pillar of lightning fired from the glyph, eliminating one shadow completely.

"This one's mine!" shouted Sakuya, seeing that Phi might need help. "Boreas!" Stabbing the tip of her halberd's pike into the ground, Sakuya concentrate most of her mana into the water, drawing a large amount of it upwards in the form of a large sphere before completely freezing it into some sort of giant iceberg. She lifted up her Fimbulvetr before slashing forward, hurling the iceberg down towards a shadow and defeating it. She fell on her knees, gasping heavily due to the huge strain it had in her body.

Maxwell was the one most surprised, seeing how he was the master of the shadows. It was a natural reaction. It would take a considerate amount of power to take down at least one of the black giants. But those two girls have struck down three already in a matter of seconds with a single blow each. Running up right now, Phi had struck down the fourth one with her own power.

"Haaaaaaa!" Phi's Sieglinde blazes with light and electricity and extradionary power comes from the core. She blocked the last shadow's arm with all her might. Even though the shadow's arms are slender, they still contain massive amount of power. Leaping off the ground once again, Phi struck the shadow in the head, slicing it off with Sieglinde's thunder power before landing on the ground and watching the shadow disappear.

"No...it's not possible," breathed Maxwell. "I'm pulling out mana a lot higher than yours, and you, a little girl, shouldn't have enough power to strike down one of my shadows. So why...? Explain!"

"There's nothing to explain," said Phi, breathing heavily. "This is Sieglinde, one of the Ten Elemental Weapons in the world. In short, this one's one of your worst natural enemies. I'm sure you've heard of the Ten Elemental Weapons before, right?"

"No, that can't be possible," murmured Maxwell. "Then, does that mean your little friend there, the one with the fauchard, does she-"

"Yup! You're facing off against two wielders of two of the Ten Elemental Weapons!" cheered Sakuya. Both her and Phi were sweating, and the high cost of using the legendary weapons slowly shreds the muscles in their bodies with each usage. Jude and Rowen began explaining to the others what the Ten Elemental Weapons were in the background. "Oh yeah, by the way, we don't know the situation, so can anyone explain what's going on? The short version?"

"Well, we came to this realm to ask the real Maxwell what was Milla's mission," Leia started to explain. "Then, he told us that Milla was nothing more than some bait to lure out Exodus, and that meant nothing to her. We tried convincing him otherwise, and well, you've seen how beaten up we were."

"Well in that case, let's go, Phi!" cried Sakuya, running towards Phi, grabbing her by the hand, then charging towards the barrier protecting Maxwell. Together, both of them chipped away small pieces of the barrier with each swung and stab.

"Storm!" With a lift of his arm, Maxwell created a strong gust of wind from a wind glyph, heading straight towards Phi and Sakuya. Sakuya struck the ground, creating an ice barrier strong enough to deflect the wind. Phi retaliated by swinging her Sieglinde, throwing a mana-like blade at Maxwell like a boomerang. Unfortunely, it was blocked completely by the barrier.

"Stone Blast!" Mustering up her mana, Sakuya made a small veriety of stones shot up from the ground and shower towards Maxwell, which was obviously blocked by the barrier.

"Spiral Flare!" Maxwell thrusted his palms forward, creating a fiery tornado in his path, which was blocked by one of the water artes Phi had just casted. Maxwell gathered up three pillars of water before extending and firing them towards his two opponents, who kept blocking with their weapon's special abilities, either blocking or freezing them. Phi had backflipped to dodge a fireball heading her way, and Sakuya helped Phi out by making a ice pillar that made Phi launch off it. Phi then slashed at the air, making a thunder slash heading straight towards Maxwell, before it was blocked by the barrier again. "Tidal Wave!" As the name suggests, a huge tidal wave came from the water below, then soon rose up way higher than Maxwell, and fell down upon Phi and Sakuya, engulfing them completely and sending them on the other side of the battlefield, completely drenched and forcing them to cough out water.

"Hey, are you two okay?!" called Alvin, concerned. If he or the others could, they would move and help out Phi and Sakuya, who were putting up a fight against Maxwell. However, they were far too injured in their fight, so they can't move for a while.

"Yeah! We're fine!" called back Phi, quickly getting up despite her injuries. She turned to Sakuya and held out her hand. "Come on, Sakuya! We can't lose! They need to live! I know you're injured, but-!"

"Oww...my head hurt real bad...but that isn't enough to take me down," muttered Sakuya, clutching her head before taking Phi's hand.

"Why do you resist?" questioned Maxwell. "In another world, Olympios, they kill spirits with their technology! They are hurting humanity themselves! Their own people! So why do you resist? If Olympios is gone, you Rieze Maxias will all be safe! If I didn't make the schism, humans will have done terrible things! That's more the reason why the schism needs to be put up!"

"What you're spouting isn't logic! It's insanity!" shouted Sakuya, on the verge to falling on her knees. "Humans need each other to survive! If you severe all ties with them, of course things become difficult!"

"You're merely a child! What do you understand?!" hollered Maxwell before summoning a fire dragon using his mana, which he mentally ordered to attack the two girls.

"I'm going to say this bluntly," spoke Phi, preparing her Sieglinde. "There's nothing special about you at all! The only thing you are is a child throwing a tantrum!"

That must have made Maxwell snap. "Silence, you fools! Begone from my sight! Air Thrust!" Extending his arms forward, Maxwell created countless blades of wind that aimed straight towards Sakuya and Phi. With their remaining, little mana, they tried their best to block at least most of the blades with their power.

"Cra-" Phi desperately pulled back her sword with both her hands, but an unpleasant pain hit her whole body with a jerk and send her flying. Sakuya gave a litte shout when Phi crashed into her, both on the ground and barely able to stay on their knees. When the remaining wind blades were flying straight towards the two, Sakuya held up her halberd to block, though she knew it wouldn't do any good.

"Demonic Chaos!" A shockwave that appeared out of nowhere created an impact and deflected the wind blades, saving Sakuya and Phi. Rowen charged past the two girls, stabbing at the barrier, though it made no scratch. The ones who had first entered the fray were Jude and Alvin, and while Jude rushed to help Rowen, Alvin looking over his shoulders at Phi and Sakuya, giving a small grin.

"Leia and Elize will heal you until you're back up on your feet. After all, we can't have you do all the work for us."

"Yeah! Go show that old fart who's boss!" agreed Sakuya, giving a thumbs-up. Alvin chuckled in response before supporting Rowen and Jude, who were trying to destroy the barrier, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Leia and Elize were busy healing Sakuya and Phi's wounds, and have each of them a gel for restoring their mana. There was no way Maxwell was going to let them win, so he began casting artes, much more powerful artes frantically that knocked down Rowen and Alvin, except for Jude. Jude leaped off into the air and smashed his fist in, trying to get through the barrier.

**SLASH! **Jude managed to break through the barrier with some help and even manage to punch Maxwell in the face so hard, he was knocked several meters away. As soon as Jude landed on the ground, he turned his head and saw Milla, perfectly healthy and ready to fight. Everyone else but Phi and Sakuya were shocked and astonished. As soon as Phi and Sakuya's injuries were mostly healed, they got up and ran towards Milla, ready to aid her as well.

"I...must be dreaming," breathed Alvin, unable to believe what was happening.

"Milla!" gasped Teepo and Elize.

"Is this truly happening?" wondered Rowen.

"Milla? No way!" said Leia happily.

"It's nice to meet you, Milla! Phi told me all about you!" welcomed Sakuya, taking Milla's free hand and shaking it. Milla nodded in approval.

"Back among the conscious and not dead, huh?" said Phi, joking a little as a small smile planted on her face. Milla walked towards the stunned Jude, and before he could say anything, Milla placed a finger on his lips, indicating that they talk later.

Milla turned to glare at Maxwell, with determination in her eyes as she pointed at him. "Is it not Maxwell's duty to protect the future for all of us, both human and spirit?"

"But how can this be? Is this the Four's doing?" questioned Maxwell.

"Uncertain? Uncertainty makes you weak, you know." As Milla spoke, the Four Great Spirits created a large glyph, healing everyone that was considered Milla's allies, before flying back to Milla's side. "Are you certain about this?" The Four nodded before returning to Milla's body so she could tether with them as everyone else arrived at Jude, Milla, Phi, and Sakuya's side.

With the cooperation of the Four Great Spirits, two of the Ten Elemental Weapons, and all eight of them working together, it didn't take long for all of them to calm down Maxwell and defeat him, rendering him useless and laying on the ground, completely defeated. Once Maxwell was finished, everyone relaxed and put away their weapons.

Phi and Sakuya collapsed from exhaustion and watched as Jude and Milla greeted each other. "So...this is exactly how is should be, right?" asked Phi, leaning against Sakuya's back.

"You mean, what's supposed to encounter here? Milla coming back?" replied Sakuya. "Yeah, I'm sure this is the right one. Anyways, Jude got Maxwell pretty well, huh?"

Thinking that Sakuya was refering to Jude punching Maxwell, Phi chuckled. "Yeah, I remembered alright. It's not every day the great Maxwell gets punched by some goodie-two shoes like him. Though, I feel like we forgot something."

"I feel blessed to have lived long enough for this reunion. To think that we would meet again," said Rowen as Teepo, Elize, and Leia were hugging Milla.

"This feels like a dream. It's real, isn't it?" said Alvin, relieved as if a huge weight got off his shoulders.

"Welcome back, Milla," said Jude, grateful.

Milla nodded. "I'm glad to see you too."

Once Sakuya and Phi got up, Sakuya turned to Phi and asked, "Hey, what do we do now? Should we greet them now? They're kinda treating us like chopped liver now."

Teepo suddenly ran towards Phi, placing his head on her flat chest. "Phi! It's good to see you too! And you haven't grown any bazongas!"

"Excuse me?!" shrieked Phi, grabbing Teepo by the neck and shaking him back and forth. Sakuya sighed, becaused if it was one thing Phi hated, it was her being refered to as 'flatchested,' both directly and indirectly.

"Phi! I'm so glad you're safe!" cried Elize, hugging Phi around the waist.

"How did you know where to find us?" asked Leia.

"Well, me and my cousin, Sakuya over here, wanted to find the rumored Hallowmont and go see the summit. After that, we saw a strange portal and entered it, and found ourselves here," answered Phi, half lying and half telling the truth. "Anyways, it's so great to see you all again."

"Yes, it is quite a surprise to see you too," said Rowen. "By the way, who's that other girl with you?"

"About time someone noticed me," said Sakuya. "I'm Sakuya, nice to meet you! I'm Phi's youngest cousin!"

"Wait, you never mentioned any sibilings," pointed out Leia. "That's a surprise, like what's going on in the world."

"Because you never asked. Wait, what do you mean 'what's going on in the world?'"

"What? Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Alvin. "I thought you knew what was happening."

"No. After I lost my balance and fell from a cliff, Sakuya found me in a forest below the Kijara Seafalls and healed me. I woke up two weeks later, and after I fully healed, we trained together for two whole months before departing," explained Phi. "Did something bad go wrong?"

"Well..." After everyone explained to Phi and Sakuya what was going on, about Muzet attacking anyone that was suspected to know the schism, and that Gaius was trying to retrieve the Lance of Kresnik, both girls understood what was going on.

Jude wasn't sure if this was reality or a dream. Before him stood Phi, the person who he killed and was supposed to be dead. During the two hardest months of his life, he had been feeling guilty and depressed not only about Milla's death, but Phi's as well. All of that was taken away in just one day, when Phi and Milla appeared. As tears fell down from his eyes, he took a step closer to Phi, his hands trembling.

Milla sensed that Jude was crying tears of happiness, and nudged Jude to go forward. "Go on. You can do it."

To everyone's surprise, Jude ran towards Phi, and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her head close to his chest. He hugged tightly, not willingly to let go, as if it was a father reuniting with his daughter. "Phi...Phi..Thank you...you're alive...I'm so, so sorry..." As Jude continued to sob, he pressed his lips gently on top of her head, showing his concern for her.

Phi, however, was just...angry and guilty. She already confessed and let all her feelings out to Sakuya, but the moment Jude hugged her, she got angry again. She was forced to forgive Jude and the others over and over again, and tried so, SO hard not to think of the Jude Mathis and Milla Maxwell from her future, but each time she spent time with Jude and Milla, the angry, hatred feelings just keep coming back. Instead, Phi just wrapped her arms around Jude, and ignoring the huge lump inside her neck, Phi replied, "Hey, it's okay. What's wrong? Sure I was gone for two months, but don't worry, I'm here."

Everyone then noticed Maxwell was floating in the air, breathing heavily and lost in thought. They quickly got into a battle position, ready to fight again if neccessary. Teepo taunted, "Hey! Stay away from us! Or am I gonna have to finish you off myself?!"

"I do not understand..." murmured Maxwell. "Tell me, what is the menaing of this?"

As if on cue, the Four Great Spirits appeared by their former master's side. "I could no longer stand idly by and allow you to continue with this folly," answered Efreet.

"Right. Exactly," agreed Sylph. "So, we decided to help Milla out and bring her to the spirit realm."

"How dare you! I gave no such orders!" accused Maxwell.

"Lord Maxwell, all people have hearts and minds, just the same as we do," said Undine gently.

"You can't just treat them like tools, even if it does help save the world to the end!" said Gnome quietly.

"Maxwell," spoke up Milla. "You may have been the one to give me my mission. Nevertheless, it was still my own mission."

"You exerted your own will," started Maxwell. "And that was a decision that came straight from your own heart."

"The world you created seems to serve no purpose other than to exist," said Jude, stepping up. "But, what kind of life is that for its people? I...We all just want to live!"

Maxwell sighed, understanding at long last. 'I suppose this is why I could not understand your actions. Human hearts truly are complicated things. Perhaps my ignoring that fact is what ultimately led me astray. I must thank you all for helping me see the truth. At any rate, I will dispel the schism," decided Maxwell. "Maintaining the schism requires a tremendous amount of mana. Dispelling it will disperse this energy into the world. That should protect the world's spirits. At least for a time, anyways. It will grant us a repreieve of a few years. Perhaps a few decades at best."

"Thank you, Maxwell," thanked Jude. "We'll figure out a solution. Both Rieze Maxia and Olympios will live on together. We'll find a way. You have my word."

"So Maxwell, you would step down from your rightful place as this world's god?" questioned a familiar voice. Everyone turned, and was shocked to see Gaius here, or how he even got here in the first place. He stopped walking and turned to Maxwell. "Answer me, Maxwell."

"I have grown weary of constantly being at the mercy of human hearts," replied Maxwell.

"If you wish to abdicate your throne as Rieze Maxia's god, then I shall sit upon it as your stead," said Gaius with strong resolution.

"A mere human to replace me as my equal? How absurd. You are not worthy at all!"

"It is not a question of being worthy. It is a question of being willing and able. If you cannot fufill your obligations, then I certainly will."

"Not so fast," interrupted Milla. "I'm afraid that's not going to work for me either."

"It matters not. I don't need your approval," said Gaius, not even giving her a glance. Suddenly, the ground-no, the entire realm started shaking as if an earthquake took place.

"Such power...it can't be," gasped Maxwell. A huge dimensional hole opened up, and in a matter of seconeds, the Lance of Kresnik showed itself, along with Muzet.

"What choice did I have?" questioned Muzet in a playful tone. "After all, you refuse to tell me what I should do now, didn't you?"

"Muzet, have you lost your mind?!" shouted Maxwell, shocked that his own creation turned her back on him.

"Maxwell, I cannot allow you to destroy the schism!" cried out Muzet, an insane look on her face.

"Maxwell, you shall serve as the cornerstone of your own world!" declared Gaius as Muzet flew towards Maxwell in an unbelievable speed. The moment she touched him, Maxwel was sent flying towards the helm of the Lance of Kresnik, trapped under some arte.

"It is my mission to protect the schism! My mission! Mine! Mine! Mine!" repeated Muzet over and over.

"Aah! I had no idea aunt-er-that Muzet person you told me was so insane!" cried Sakuya, terrified of her own aunt now. Back in the future, Muzet was so kind to her, and always loved Gaius, but now, this wasn't technically the Muzet she knew.

"Release me now! That is an order!" ordered Maxwell, struggling against his bonds.

"I'm afraid it's too late! You're always too late!" denied Muzet. The Lance of Kresnik then activated on it's own, opening the helm and quickly absorbing Maxwell's unlimited mana.

"Muzet, come to me." Immediantly, Muzet complied and landed near Gaius, a dimensional hole appearing in her chest. Gaius grabbed a long sword from the dimensional hole, the blade glowing a blue, mysterious and powerful aura. "Behold! Muzet's true power! A sword that can slice through space and time!"

"I don't expect we'll meet again. Farewell, my sister," said Muzet, not showing any sorrow.

"Why are you doing this?! Gaius!" cried Jude.

"For the sake of those who were killed, I will go to Elympios!" declared Gaius. "And you shall return to Rieze Maxia, where you cannot interfere!" With a quickly slice of his new blade, the slash opened a dimensional hole above Jude and his party, sucking up anything.

"Come on, you've gotta be kidding me!" groaned Alvin. Everyone else was hanging on tightly, trying to stay on ground and not get sucked in. Alvin grabbed Elize, who was about to fly into the hole, while Jude held Phi tightly, Rowen grabbed Leia's hand, and Milla wrapped her arm around Sakuya's waist.

"W-what do we do, Phi?!" asked Sakuya.

"...We can't do anything!" shouted back Phi. Mustering the last of his strength, Maxwell created another dimensional hole that was sucking more air than the previous once.

"Leave at once! That man is not worthy of the name Maxwell!" grunted Maxwell, enduring the pain as his mana was being spent. Everyone couldn't take it anymore and screamed as they were sucked by the dimensional hole Maxwell created, completely disappearing.

* * *

**Hey, it seems like Sakuya and Phi were overpowering Maxwell, but really, all they have are really large chunks of mana. Besides, the only reason they could have fought Maxwell was through the Legendary Weapons. Hope I didn't make them like Mary Sues, cause I'm trying not to. I'm done for this week! Good night!**


End file.
